Total Drama School Life
by fika1999
Summary: After six seasons of everyone's favorite reality show, the host with the most Chris McLean decides to start anew with a brand new set of wacky teens and a fresh location - a school somewhere in Ontario. Which of the sixteen hopefuls will bring home the grand prize of one million dollars? Friendship, romance, betrayal and, most importantly, drama awaits on Total Drama School LIfe!
1. Ch 1: Back to the High School Future

**Chapter 1: Back to the High School Future**

"School years – the time of our lives defined by an aspiration to obtain knowledge, discover hidden talents, overcome challenges, build long-lasting friendships and experience the world in our own unique way" the unknown narrator said in a calm, pleasant, almost nostalgic-sounding manner that made it seem like a beginning of an ad for an education facility of sorts. His speech was accompanied by a classical melody and footage of the interior of a school, the scenery shifting from hallways to classrooms, the cafeteria, the gym and the library. "School is a path leading to our futures, but one we will keep looking back at as a source of many fond memories. Everything about it is incredibly stirring, moving and…"

"Booooring!" an all too familiar voice of the TD host interjected, stopping the music and the video, which was now showing the basketball court set up in the school's gym. The image then went white, and the camera panned out slightly to reveal that the footage was shown on a large portable projection screen, which was now hurriedly being wheeled away by two interns, one of whom also carried a music player. The removal of the screen revealed the one and only Chris McLean sporting his usual attire and pearly whites with a three-story building painted in mostly brown and white with a triangular roof and a Canadian flag placed on top of it in the background.

"That's what school's like until Total Drama comes to town! I am Chris McLean and this is the stage for the brand new season of your favorite reality show." Chris announced in his usual relaxed, yet excited tone of voice. "This school is where a bunch of hopefuls will compete to see which one of them has what it takes to go back home with one million dollars in their pockets. Get ready for the most unpredictable season yet, where there's only one thing we can guarantee – and that's drama! Welcome to Total Drama School Life!"

[Intro]

"Over the years of making your favorite show, we've seen a lot." Chris resumed his monologue. "We've been to and destroyed several islands, tried our hand in filmmaking and even made a quick trip around the globe. Fifty-one teenagers and one washed-up socialite have tried and mostly failed to get their hands on the grand prize. We've seen every type of competitor in the book from tough jocks to awkward nerds to cunning schemers to people, who made our producers go "Where did you find these guys?" So now, we believe it's time to start anew with a brand new location and a fresh cast of wackos! These people applied for Total Drama, despite everything that has taken place on this show over the past six seasons – that's how you know these kids are nuts!" Chris shifted his gaze from the camera to the road in front of him and looked into the distance. "And here they come now!"

A yellow school bus was rapidly approaching the school building. Inside it were sixteen teenagers – some looking out the window, some chatting up their neighbors, and others finding some other way to entertain themselves. "Time to give these guys a warm welcome! Chef?" Chris said into a walkie-talkie with a sly smile on his lips. On the other end was indeed the other half of the host duo – Chef, dressed in a dark blue uniform, was the one driving the bus and, once he heard Chris's words, he spun the wheel causing the bus to spin wildly in turn, which prompted screams of terror from the new contestants. The vehicle then came to a sudden halt less than a meter away from the host. "Terrific job, Chef! And bonus points for the parking." Chris exclaimed, as the bus stopped right in the designated spot outlined by chalk on the pavement surface. "I guess after piloting a huge jet, driving a bus is a piece of cake. Well, anyway, it is now time to meet our brand new victims, er, I mean, contestants!"

"Up first is…" before Chris was able to finish his sentence, the door of the bus swung open and a young woman in an orange t-shirt and denim overalls stumbled out with her arms around her stomach. The moment she stepped off the bus, however, she could no longer control herself and threw up right onto the pavement. "Well, I guess we have a volunteer!" Chris said, clearly amused by the whole situation. The girl took a second to collect herself and adjust the red bandana that got tangled in her short blond hair before shooting Chef a dirty glare. "Where I'm from that kind of driving would get you fired on the spot!"

"Hey Rachel, how are you doing?" Chris asked, as the girl walked up to him.

"I'm fine, Chris. It's nice to meet you" Rachel answered politely, "though I'm not really excited to go to school after I just graduated"

"That's something all of you have in common. Please, stand over there, while I introduce the other contestants" Chris motioned her to a spot a dozen or so steps away from where he was standing.

"Now, let's say hello to Gregory!" Chris greeted a rather large and tall guy with short brown hair and a noticeable stubble sporting a red shirt with a pair of drums on it and jeans.

"Just call me Greg." He corrected, "This is a dream come true, man! When I started watching the first season, I wasn't even in high school, and now I'm here! Can't wait for you to throw some of those wicked challenges at me, bro. Testing my limits is the reason I'm here!"

"Isn't a million dollars the main reason?" Rachel asked, as Greg approached her

"Nah, what I want most is to get bragging rights with the other guys in my band"

"Wait, you're in a band? What kind of music do you play?"

Just as Greg was about to answer, a loud cough could be heard from the direction of the bus. When he and Rachel turned around to find the source of the noise, they saw a tall Asian guy standing on the steps of the bus. His black hair was slicked back and he was dressed in a dark grey suit with a white shirt underneath – a sharp contrast to their more casual clothing styles.

"Finally" he muttered, before looking at the pool of vomit left by Rachel, "I see we're off to a great start". He carefully avoided stepping into it and proceeded to greet Chris.

"Damien, everybody!" Chris said cheerfully.

"Hey, man, dontcha think you're dressed a little too fancy for this?" Greg asked.

"Oh, don't worry. There is practically nothing I can't do in a suit…, man," Damien swiftly answered in a somewhat mocking fashion.

"Say hello to Molly!" Chris introduced the next contestant – a short chubby girl with dark skin, freckles and curly brown hair tied in a messy ponytail. Molly wore a dark green knee length pleated skirt and a grey t-shirt with a picture of a rocket on it. She had a small metallic device in her hands and was so invested in tinkering with it that she completely ignored Chris and walked past him. "Um, Molly? You're on TV. The viewers didn't tune in to listen to your silence" Chris remarked, but the teen still paid no mind to him. "You didn't list horrible hearing as one of your bad qualities on your application form" – the host was now visibly upset with the girl's lack of reaction.

"And voila!" Molly suddenly exclaimed, extending her open palm to the other contestants. A tiny grey robot resembling a human was now sitting on her palm and repeating her gesture. "It's my new Imitator 013 – the first robot to completely duplicate the action of the person holding it!" Greg and Rachel were clearly impressed with the invention, while Damien simply raised his eyebrow. "This robot will surely help make the world a better place!" Molly exclaimed, but as she did, she clenched the hand with the robot into a fist, which made a brief clunky sound. The girl's eyes went wide, and she quickly looked at her hand only to find that her invention was now little more than a few pieces of metal. "Whoopsie! Sorry, guys, I can be a tad clumsy" she said awkwardly.

"You don't say" Damien commented sarcastically, before giving the school bus a puzzled look. "Um, Chris?"

Everyone looked at where Damien was pointing and saw a muscular tanned boy in a dark blue sleeveless shirt and matching sports pants climb out of the bus window onto the roof of the vehicle.

"What are you doing?" Rachel shouted to the guy, visibly worried for his well-being.

The young man, who now made it to the roof, replied to her in a matter-of-fact manner "What does it look like? I'm getting footage for my brand new parkour vlog!" He then flashed the camera a shiny smile and ran his hand through his black hair, which despite the physical activity, retained its pompadour styling.

"But you're not filming anything." Molly pointed out dryly.

"Don't need to. I just knew my killer moves would catch the camera's attention"

"This is Jesse" Chris introduced the young man, before his tone changed to a more annoyed one. "who was supposed to be introduced towards the end. Seriously, you people are making this way harder than it needs to be. Now get down here!" the host ordered, which prompted Jesse to jump down and head to where his fellow contestants were standing.

"Our student number six is Rosa!" Chris said, as a young woman with dirty blond hair and green eyes approached him. Her peach-colored knee-length dress had its upper part adorned with small pieces of fabric that resembled tiny rose buds.

"Good morning, Chris. Greetings, everyone. I believe the sun peeking through the clouds reflects my enthusiasm for meeting you all."

The others were taken aback by her unfittingly formal speech. Finally, Jesse said "Chill, mamacita, we're all teens here."

"Oh, pardon me. I'm an aspiring storyteller, and I write it so often that I tend to carry my writing style over into spoken word" Rosa said, a little embarrassed, before moving to stand next to Greg, who kept looking at her even after she stopped talking, seemingly in a trance.

"Alright, Lukey-Luke, step up!" Chris said in a cheerful tone to a curly-haired ginger stepping off the bus. He sported a yellow and black plaid shirt and grey pants.

"Could you, um, please not call me that?" he asked in a meek fashion.

"So, how are you enjoying this so far?" Chris asked, completely ignoring the young man's request.

"It's fine" Luke replied courtly before adding "Except it's a bit overwhelming with all the cameras". The image panned out to reveal a cameraman standing centimeters away from his face, before panning out even more, now showcasing the entire school and revealing a dozen cameras filming from every angle and even an intern flying on a jet pack with a camera in his hand.

"Eh, you'll get used to it" the host said dismissively, before shifting his focus to the new student getting off the bus. A short tanned girl with her shoulder length black hair curled inwards toward the end got off the bus. She was wearing a purple hoodie with a picture of a cat's face on it and denim shorts.

"Hey, everyone, I'm Piper" she said cheerfully, before turning to Chris. "I thought you said we couldn't bring electronic devices, but Molly…"

"No, I said that you, specifically, cannot bring any electronic devices. I can't risk a hacker leaking spoilers into the web for some cash, so if I see you use anything electronic at any point, you will be eliminated on the spot. Capisce?" Chris said almost threateningly, to which Piper only sighed. "And it's not like an imitating robot can be any help in the competition anyway."

"Hey!" Molly shouted. "Wait, you're a hacker?"

"I thought all hackers were fat guys living in their moms' basements trying to expose government secrets" Luke added, equally surprised.

"We're not all like that," Piper said, sounding a little offended. "Though I do live with my mom, hehe. Hacking doesn't pay as much as you would think, since…" she suddenly stopped, when she realized everyone was staring at something behind her.

Coming off the bus was a tall Asian woman with wavy chocolate brown hair, wearing a pink blouse that exposed her shoulders and gave anyone looking a peak at her cleavage and a black mini skirt showcasing most of her legs. The ensemble proved popular with the male contestants, one of them even wolfwhistling as the girl approached the host whose only response to her look was a quick "wow".

"This is Kimberly - our resident prom queen." Chris announced

"Hey, boys" she said, though her words were directed more to Chris than the other campers. "And it's okay to just call me Kim."

"Actually, she is not the only prom queen here" Rachel pointed out proudly. "I was a prom queen back home in Saskatchewan, too."

"Oh, wow. How many scarecrows did you have to beat to get that title?" Kim asked, prompting a few snickers from the boys, which earned them a dirty glare from Rachel. "FYI, I was a prom queen countless times."

"How is that even…"

"Alright, ladies, let's save some of that drama for the challenges." Chris interrupted, as Kim made her way to the other students. "Let's meet our next victim – Nate!"

A tall and lanky boy stepped out of the bus dragging his feet. His short brown hair was unkempt and his long bangs almost got in the way of seeing his surroundings. He wore a baggy turquoise colored sweater and a pair of black pants that only highlighted how skinny his legs were. "Is it too late to withdraw my application?" he asked dryly.

"No can do" Chris replied. "Probably should've thought about that before getting on the bus"

"Why would you want to withdraw? The game hasn't even started yet" Molly wondered

"Plus, didn't we all submit applications to get a chance to come here?" Piper joined in.

"My folks submitted an application for me, and because the universe loves me, I was picked." Nate said with a heavy sigh. "They think I don't spend enough time outside with my peers or whatever. As if anything interesting is happening outside", he then joined the rest of the team without really looking at any of them.

"Here comes Martin!" Chris announced the latest teen to get off the bus – a tanned boy with brown shoulder length hair and brown eyes. His attire consisted of a white t-shirt with a wooden peace sign depicted on it and light blue cargo shorts.

"How is it going, everyone?" he asked cheerfully

"Um, do I know you from somewhere?" Greg asked, scratching his head.

"He's right! Your face does look familiar," Kim added. "I can't put my finger on it, though"

"Well, I…" Martin was about to respond, before getting interrupted my Damien.

"Martin Delaney" he said calmly, "He singlehandedly made his home district the cleanest part of Toronto and, after getting the attention of the media, used his newly found fame to establish the group "Youth for Green Toronto". He was even invited to work in the Town Hall, but declined"

"Oh, that's right – I saw you on the news!" Greg said in realization. "Heh, looks like you've already got fans, man" he added, glancing at Damien.

"Hardly. As someone who plans to pursue politics in the future, I pay close attention to anything happening in the field. Delaney is just someone to keep an eye on" Damien said the last sentence in an almost threatening tone.

"Alright then" Martin muttered awkwardly and walked over to the expanding group of students.

"Up next, we have Yeka… Yeka-tur" Chris read from a card he grabbed from his pocket, clearly struggling with the contestant's name.

"Katya is fine," the new student said with a slight Russian accent. She was a tall girl with her blonde hair in a braided bun sporting a white corset-like top and black leggings. "Pleasure to meet you, Chris" she said without any changes in her intonation.

"I wonder if you'll still say that a week later," Chris said with a smirk.

Ignoring the host's remark, Katya turned to her soon-to-be competition. "And it is a pleasure to meet all of you. I cannot wait for us to get to know each other". Her friendly greeting contrasted with her monotonous delivery and blank facial expression, receiving a few puzzled looks from her fellow contestants.

Chris chuckled briefly at the teens' confusion, before turning to the camera "Now it's time for the lucky student number thirteen – it's… Ahh!" the host shouted in surprise, when he realized the boy was already standing next to him. He had brown skin and black hair, combed over to the side, and wore a long-sleeved blue classical shirt and a green vest with long brown pants, all of which gave him a distinct preppy feel. Chris quickly regained his composure and scolded the teen "Dude, Kai, you're supposed to wait for your cue!"

"You were supposed to finish the introductions two minutes and twenty-seven seconds ago. Don't tell me this horrible excuse for time management will prevail for the remainder of the season," the young man said, pointing to his wristwatch.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," Rosa politely interjected, "how do you know that?"

"The entire schedule of the first day in school was written into the contract that was mailed to us after we were chosen as contestants"

"Wait, you actually read that thing?" Nate asked. "I guess you have a lot of free time".

"I know right? I got a headache just looking through the contents list," Kim added.

Kai stepped up to the rest of the gang with his head in his hands, as a dark-skinned girl with neon blue dreadlocks stepped off the bus. Coupled with her unusual hairstyle, her bright yellow sleeveless jumpsuit made her stand out from the other contestants.

"Let's keep the ball rolling with…" Chris was about to announce, until he was interrupted by someone yet again.

"Essentia!" Piper exclaimed in joy and ran up to the new girl. "I can't believe I didn't notice you on the bus! I loved your last album, especially the one song where the beat goes bum ba-dum dum ts ts bum ba-da-bum!" she said poorly imitating the instrumental.

"Haha, that's one of my favorites, too. I didn't think there'd be any fans here, though – I don't get much radio play" the singer was clearly happy to get recognition.

"Hey, Essentia… would it be alright if I, um, maybe gave you a hug?" Piper asked bashfully.

"Sure, girl! And you can call me Vicki when I'm not on stage". She barely finished her sentence, before Piper pulled her into a bear hug, though, due to her small frame, the hacker could only reach up to Vicki's chin.

"Alright, enough with the warm greetings" Chris said, a little annoyed at the two. "Let's move on to the next contestant - Hailey!"

The moment he uttered those words, a small tanned girl with her short brown hair in a messy ponytail sprinted out of the bus, before coming to a halt next to Chris. She wore a short-sleeved white t-shirt that showed the wide red straps of the tank top she had underneath it and a pair of red loose capris. Even after stopping, the girl kept jumping from excitement. "Sup, Chris! Are you ready to throw those challenges at me?" she asked cheerfully. "I spent the entire last night honing my skills at the dojo back home and now you can't break my spirit!"

"You do martial arts? You're so tiny though" Jesse said the second sentence in a cutesy manner.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall" Hailey said with a mischievous grin, before turning to Chris. "So, what's the goal of today's challenge? Before coming here, I had to down twenty-seven cupcakes to get this sugar rush, so I wouldn't fall asleep after my intense training!"

"Hold your pommel horses, karate kid; we still have one student to introduce. Say hello to Drew!"

A boy with short blond hair stepped off the bus, wearing a white t-shirt with a neon green jacket over it and denim pants. He looked perfectly ordinary, except for one thing – his face was covered by a plain white mask with two holes that perfectly matched the shape of his eyes and a drawn nose and lips. He greeted everyone with a simple "Hi, guys!"

The rest of the gang were unsure of what to say, until Hailey, who was still standing next to Chris, started to sporadically wave her hand at Drew and exclaimed, "Welcome aboard! What are you all about?"

"I'm Drew and I'm really interested in acting and playing different characters" he said somewhat meekly, before he swiftly shifted his mask to the side and on its place came another, wider one, this time depicting the face of a grey wolf with sharp fangs and his tongue sticking out. "Heh, that's one lame-ass introduction" he said in a much huskier voice. "La here. And get ready, cause I'm here to f*** sh** up!" he exclaimed pointing a thumb to his face. Suddenly the boy's mask shifted once more, and an even wider mask depicting a brown bear with a wide innocent smile now covered his face. "Now, that's not a very nice thing to say, La. You have to wash your mouth with soap after using these bad words!" he scolded the wolf in a high-pitched voice. "Oh, by the way, I'm Lu. It's so nice to be with you all."

The entire ordeal was met with confused looks from all the other students. Finally, Hailey threw her hands up in the air and shouted "Awesome!" clearly impressed with what had just taken place.

"Alrighty then, students! Now that you're all here, it is time for a quick tour of the school before we get to your very first challenge!" Chris said cheerfully. "Follow me." The teens followed the host into the school. They entered the large main hall that had its walls painted white and its light brown floor cleaned to such a degree that it was almost glistening beneath the students' feet. There was also a light blue staircase leading to the upper floor positioned in the back of the hall.

"Whoa, this place is huge!" Martin said in awe.

"It is so gargantuan that we could hold ballroom dances!" Rosa added in excitement.

"First things first," Chris announced before leading the contestants to an old wooden door not far from the staircase. When he opened the door, it revealed a room so cramped that two people could barely fit in there. The room had creaky wooden floors and walls sloppily painted white. To the left there was a yellow mop bucket, to the right a large black and red vacuum cleaner and a yellow sign, saying "Slippery when wet". In the back of the room there were several boxes and above them was a grey shelf that held several multicolored canisters, cans and buckets. In the middle of it all was a single wooden stool.

"A... janitor's closet?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"Formerly, a janitor's closet. We've remodeled it into our brand new confessional!" the host explained.

"And by remodeling, you mean adding a chair?" Kai asked

"Ew, it smells like paint in here!" Kim moaned in disgust. "And that stool doesn't seem comfortable at all"

"You should be grateful – most seasons our confessional smells like poop." Chris said non-chalantly, "And the stool is uncomfortable on purpose, so you don't spend hours monologuing in here. You know how much time our crew spends just editing your confessionals? Anyways, anyone wanna confess anything?"

* * *

[Confessional]

Hailey: Whoo, totally scored the first confessional of the season! I'm super pumped for this! I haven't really gotten to know anyone yet, but that Drew guy seems awesome. I wish I could do that, too – it'd help make my training in the dojo more intense. *shifts to the right, holds the end of her ponytail to her upper lip and imitated a deep voice* "Finally, we meet again, Hailey! This is I, your arch-nemesis, Zhou Feng! The hour of your downfall is upon us!", *shifts to the left and puts her ponytail down" "Don't be do sure about that, you old fartball!" *punches the air only to hit the wall* "Ow!"

Damien: This is a good opportunity to size up the competition. In the beginning of shows like this, everyone acts nice and friendly, so now's the time to be strategic and look for potential allies. Trust me, I will dominate this game, or I am not Damien Carignan!

Nate: *sighs heavily*

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Alright kiddos, let's move on" Chris said , opening the door leading to the left of the main hall, "after you".

As all the teenagers went through the door they saw a long, but otherwise unremarkable hallway that had a few doors to the right side and windows to the left. Suddenly they heard the door close behind them with Chris nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, what the heck, Chris? Get us outta here!" Vicki shouted, while banging on the door to no avail.

"This wasn't on the timetable" Kai remarked before sniffing around, "Hey, what's that smell?"

"I'm suddenly not feeling so well" Rosa said, sitting down against the wall.

"Oh, crap! They must be pumping sedatives into here or something" Martin said angrily, before losing his conciousness and falling onto the floor. In a matter of seconds, so did everyone else. The camera then showed Chef in a gas mask on an upper floor pumping some gas into the vents. In his hand was a walkie-talkie, which suddently burst to life as Chris's voice filled the room: "Awesome job, Chef! That'll show them what they're in for. You can report back to the main hall now".

The image went black for a second before showing an image of Kai, Kim, Luke and Rachel asleep at a desk, facing each other, in an ordinary classroom with blue walls in the upper-left corner of the screen. In a couple of seconds another image appeared next to it, this one showing Greg, Hailey, Martin and Rosa in a classroom just like the other one, except its walls were painted green. Below the first two images, appeared two more – a purple classroom with Damien, Katya, Molly and Nate and a yellow one with Drew, Jesse, Piper and Vicki. Suddenly a loud sound of a referee whistle reverberated through the school, waking everyone up. The students looked up to see the sound came from a loudspeaker positioned just below the ceiling in every classroom.

"Wakey-wakey, students! It's a special message from Principal McLean", Chris's voice blasted from the loudspeakers, "It's time for you to get to know the school that you will call home for the next few weeks. You know, originally, I was planning to show you all the landmarks myself, but I figured that'd be boring to watch, so now you'll explore this place as your first challenge! Excited?"

"Not really" Nate said dryly.

"Think of this as a race through the school. The team, whose member crosses the finish line first, will be the winner."

"Team?" Martin asked no one in particular.

"Yes, Martin – team. Aka the people in the same classroom as you. The teams' names correspond to the color of the walls in the classroom you're in right now. We have also tied armbands in your team colors around your arms in case any of you are especially braindead."

"Hideous" Damien remarked upon noticing his armband. He then took it off, folded it and fit it into his pocketsquare. "Better"

"Any questions so far?" Chris asked.

"Yes. Why did you put us to sleep?" Piper asked.

"To teach you to always expect the unexpected. And besides, we have to squeeze these episodes into twenty-two minutes somehow and allocating you to teams one by one would take a long time. So you could call it a time-saving measure."

"Now, it's time to begin. There is a piece of paper attached to the blackboard in every classroom, which has the map of the first floor. Find the swimming pool on the map and make your way there. You'll learn more when you get there. Don't forget that it's a race, so chop-chop! Good luck!"

In the yellow classroom, Vicki tore the paper off the blackboard. "It's just down the hall. Quick, we gotta get there first!" The team ran up to the door and Jesse threw it open by kicking it with his foot. As the teens entered the hallways, they saw the other three teams a few steps away, as the classrooms turned out to be right next to each other.

"Run!" Greg shouted and all sixteen students sprinted to the swimming pool. Mere seconds later, they saw a blue double door leading to the pool, and ran through it. After entering, the crowd couldn't stop and ran ahead, almost falling into the water, but came to a halt a step away from the edge. In front of them they saw a large pool surrounded by a narrow strip of land with a couple of beach chairs to the right and a wider one with a few rows of dark blue bleachers to the left. The walls were painted blue and white and there were a few windows to the left side. To the right, there were two doors with the standard male-female signs one might see in public bathrooms. In the middle of the pool stood a platform resembling a red and yellow surfboard. The wall in front of the teens had a large timer on it.

"Nice entrance!" Chris exclaimed through the loudspeaker. "This is the site of your first mini-challenge. You didn't seriously think you'd just run around the school, did you? There will be three mini-challenges, and if you participate in one, you can't help your team in any of the others. In order to make you feel like part of the TD family, today's challenges will be based on some of the most memorable tasks in our show's history. As you might have guessed from the surfboard, this challenge is based on the beach movie challenge from TDA" Chris said, as a flashback to the aforementioned challenge was shown before the image showed a blond male intern standing on the surfboard. "Much like the original challenge, the goal is to ride the waves for as long as possible. Your time on the board will be measured by the timer." Chris said as the intern slipped up and fell and the timer showed six seconds.

"The amount of time you spend on the surfboard is the amount of time you have under water to find one of the four Gilded Chris awards. This is a reference to the underwater scavenger hunt in Jamaica in season three and the search for the key to the spa hotel in the All-Stars season." Chris said, as flashbacks to those challenges rolled on the screen. "In order to make this a little tougher, we've decorated the bottom of the pool with fake algae and rocks" The camera showed the intern tangled in the tall yellow algae in the pool.

"Let me guess, the pool also has sharks and electric eels?" Martin asked.

"No, both of them are a pain to transport and fish out of the pool once the challenge is over" Chris said disappointedly.

"Oh goodies, what great news!" Drew said masked as the bear character Lu.

"That's why we brought piranhas instead!" Chris announced in an excited tone of voice. A redshirt with dark hair wheeled in a tank with piranhas and dumped its contents into the pool. Seconds later, the blond intern jumped out of the pool scratched up and with several piranhas still attached to him, ran out of the pool and jumped out the window, breaking the glass in the process. This left the contestants wide-eyed in horror.

"Each student will only get one try on the surfboard until all the others have their turn as well. The order, in which you get on the surfboard is determined by the order you got here. Thanks to our cameras, we know that Team Yellow was first, then Purple, Green and finally Blue. Now, you have a minute to decide which team member will try conquering the waves. Keep in mind that this person will have to stay here until the end of your race through the school and won't be able to help you any further. If you're picked as the designated surfer, change into one of the swimsuits in the changing rooms and then the real fun will begin!"

"Man, surfing is one of the most extreme things! I wanna do it!" Jesse said excitedly.

"Well, we might need your athleticism further down the road, but I don't think anyone else wants to do it" Vicki said, before looking at Drew and Piper, both of whom shaked their heads. "Guess it's your lucky day"

"Whoo-hoo!" Jesse said before running into the changing room.

Katya looked at the surfboard for a while "Quite an interesting challenge, wouldn't you agree?" she asked, before turning to her teammates. "So, who wants to do it?"

What followed was complete silence. "That's what I thought. I'll do it then" she said determinedly, turning back to look at the pool.

* * *

[Confessional]

Katya: I've never surfed before, as all seas surrounding my homeland of Russia are too cold for that. But I have been dancing ballet for the past twelve years, so my great balance should help.

[End Confessional]

* * *

The green team had a little more trouble deciding on their surfer.

"Let me do it! I have awesome balance!" Hailey insisted.

"Perhaps so, but I think we are better off saving your athletic skills for later" Martin said.

"No fair" she pouted in response.

"But who else can do it?" Greg asked

"I can do it. I used to surf in middle school" Martin volunteered. "I should still have the skills"

"So, does anyone have experience surfing or diving?" Rachel nervously asked, looking at her teammates. The blue team was taking the longest to come to a decision.

"Well, I was on the swimming team in my high school years" Kim said in an aloof manner.

"Great!" Rachel exclaimed. "And here I thought we were done for. Kim will eat this challenge up for breakfast!"

"Yeah, no. There's no way I'm doing it" Kim objected. "I'm hoping to become a model someday, and bite marks aren't a marketable look"

"Oh come on, you signed up for this show – life-threatening challenges are the norm here. This is the time to prove your worth to us" Kai interjected impatiently.

"No, there's no way I'm doing it!" Kim spat angrily. Suddenly, she changed her demeanor and wrappeed her arms around herself. "I have a phobia of piranhas or something"

"Yeah, we all have it – it's called common sense. Now get in the pool!" Kai said, now clearly angry with his teammate.

"I'm not doing it and you can't make me!" she said defensively, tearing up.

"Stop being a brat!"

"Okay, let it go, Kai" Rachel interfered. "She's scared – we can't force her. She'll be useful in some other challenge"

"I highly doubt it" Kai muttered. "Besides, if she's allowed to sit out, so am I"

"But..." Rachel was about to reason with him, when Luke suddenly volunteered "I'll do it", surprising the three.

* * *

[Confessional]

Luke: I actually haven't even touched a surfboard ever, but I can't stand bickering, so I guess I'm taking one for the team. After spending my entire free time in retirement homes for the past two years preparing for nursing school, I've really forgotten how noisy teens can be.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Jesse was already standing on the surfboard platform in black and blue swimtrunks, while Katya, Luke and Martin stood near the swimming pool, waiting their turn. Katya wore a matching black and blue one-piece swimsuit, while the two boys' swimtrunks were identical to those of Jesse. All the other contestants were sitting on the bleachers.

"And begin!" Chris's voice came over the loudspeaker, as the surfboard started moving under Jesse. At first, the movement almost threw him off-guard, but he regained his composure and started balancing on the board quite comfortably, much to the disdain of the other teams. As he passed the twenty-second mark, his team started loudly cheering from the bleachers. This noticeably boosted his confidence, as he started to show off for the cameras – first by flexing his muscles, then standing on one hand and finally comfortably lying down on the board, all of which made his team cheer even louder. He then winked at the camera, jumped up and did a sommersault in the air. However, he spread his legs a tad too wide on landing and hit the board with his privates, making him wince in pain. His teammates had similarly pained expressions on their faces.

"Talk about a nutcracker" Greg joked, before Jesse slowly slided off the board into the water, as the timer showed thirty-nine seconds.

"Jesse's time underwater begins," Chris announced, as the boy checked his surroundings underwater. The entire space was like a huge fish tank with rocks, algae and multicolored corals. "Meanwhile, it's time for Katya to try and find her footing". The surfboard started up yet again, but the current surfer had way more trouble than the previous one. Even with her remarkable balance, the moving surface made maintaining it a challenge. The screen now split into two – one showing Katya struggling to maintain balance while keeping her poker face, and the other displaying Jesee removing algae out of his way, only to find a swarm of piranhas behind it, which immediately started chasing him around the pool.

"This is getting good" Chris remarked in glee. Suddenly, Katya slipped and fell into the water with the timer showing seventeen seconds.

"Jesse, I would hurry up if I were you, your time is almost done. Martin, show us what you've got".

As Katya dived underwater, she suddenly saw Jesse swim past her as piranhas followed him. Once they spotted her, though, they redirected their attention to her. She started quickly swimming towards a coral wall, but then realized she had made a mistake, as there was now nowhere she could flee.

As the TV screen in the swimming pool showed Katya's predicament, Molly looked on in horror, while Damien who was sitting next to her asked: "Hey, do we get to move on, if our teammate dies trying to complete the challenge?"

"Hm, I guess it's a fair trade" Chris said cheerfully.

"Great" Damien remarked, before folding his hands behind his head, which earned him glares from Molly and Nate.

Underwater, Katya was still cornered by piranhas. Suddenly, she stopped looking around for a possible escape route and stared at the piranhas, slowly morphing her usual poker face into a glare. This stopped the fish in their tracks, as they were now staring back at her. She then motioned to Jesse, who was searching for the statue not too far away, with her eyes, leading the swarm of angry piranhas to go after him. As his muffled screams reverberated through the water, Katya turned around and noticed that there was something peeking out of the corals she was standing against. After pulling it out, she saw that it was a Gilded Chris with a folded piece of paper attached to it.

"And Katya finds the first statue!" Chris exclaimed, as the blonde resurfaced with the Gilded Chris in her hand, prompting cheers from her teammates. Moments later so did a battered and bruised Jesse. "And our Mr Extreme's time is also up".

* * *

[Confessional]

Katya: Those piranhas felt my determination to win. And determination is the most important quality you need in order to achieve success. When I was four years old, my mother took me to the only ballet school in our town, which was run by a 90-year-old coach Lyudmila Fyodorovna. After I performed in front of her, she told me that a giraffe like me could never become a real ballerina. But that didn't stop me. Now I teach ballet to kids here in Canada... and she's dead.

Jesse: *covered in bruises* Not sure w-what scares me more – t-the piranhas or that Russian chick!

[End Confessional]

* * *

Molly, Nate and Damien ran up to the pool to get the statue from Katya.

"There's another map here!" Molly pointed out after taking the piece of paper and unfolding it. "It's a map to the second floor"

"This room is circled, so I guess that's where we're supposed to go" Nate said, before they all rushed out of the pool.

"Forty-five seconds in and Martin is still surfing" Chris said, as the teen was keeping his balance without much discomfort. "Which is getting a little boring to watch" the host added. Martin then stopped balancing and suddenly swan dived into the pool.

"Fifty seconds!" Chris exclaimed

"Huh? Why'd he do that?" Greg asked the girls on his team, surprised by Martin's jump.

* * *

[Confessional]

Martin: I could have stayed on the board longer, but I didn't want to waste time. The purple team was already done, and based on what Chris said about the reward, we have to do our best to get it.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"As Martin begins his underwater adventure, it's time for Team Blue to finally have their turn," Chris announced as Luke stepped up to the surfboard. When it started moving, he could barely keep his balance and fell into the water in a matter of seconds. "And that was a whopping four seconds on that board!" Chris said amusedly.

"Ugh, we're dead" Kai sulked, glaring at Kim, who was sitting next to him.

"Hey, some team spirit would be appreciated" Rachel said, standing up from her seat. "You can do it, Luke!"

The ginger could only look around for a moment, until he heard the sound of a horn. "And Luke's time is up! Jesse, time for take two," Chris announced, much to Luke's dismay.

* * *

[Confessional]

Rachel: The team isn't doing so well at the moment, but we can still turn this around. The secret is never giving up!

Kai: So, what's the punishment for coming last?

[End Confessional]

* * *

Meanwhile, Martin was swimming close to the bottom of the pool, carefully avoiding piranhas. Suddenly, he noticed a bump in the otherwise flat sand covering the pool floor. He touched the bump and felt that there was something solid beneath it. After digging for a few moments, he found a statue hidden behind a layer of sand.

Greg, Hailey and Rosa were sitting on the bleachers, nervous for their teammate, until he emerged from the water near the edge of the pool closest to them with a statue in his hands.

"This should lift your spirits!" he said excitedly, prompting them to cheer and run up to him.

"And Martin puts Team Green into second place!" Chris announced.

"Oh man!" Jesse lamented in the distance, which caused him to lose his focus and fall off the board. "That's twenty seconds for Jesse!" Chris exclaimed, as Jesse resumed his underwater search.

On second floor, Team Purple approached a large orange door. "This should be the one," Molly said, looking up from the map in her hands. She opened the door and the threesome rushed in to find a large room with its walls painted orange and white. In the middle of it were two large wooden tables. Opposite of the entrance was a long counter with all kinds of food lined up in separate containers. Near the counter was a door, leading to the kitchen, which could be partially seen through the small window above the counter. Several charts related to the digestive system and nutrition hung on the walls. There was a notable shortage of seats, as there were only four chairs in the room – all set at the table that was closer to the entrance, facing the counter.

"Looks like the cafeteria" Molly remarked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't seem like a set for a challenge" Nate said. "Are you sure we're in the right room?"

"We have to be" Damien said, annoyed. "We checked the map a thousand times". He then came up to the loudspeaker in the corner of the room and shouted, "Hey, Chris! Are you going to be doing your job or what?"

The loudspeaker came to life, as Chris's voice took over the cafeteria. "I'm here! Sheesh! You know how hard it is to switch between two sets without confusing them?" He then regained composure and resumed talking, "Anyway, this challenge will require two of you to cooperate to get the map of the third and final floor of the school. First, one of you will have to take a seat at the table and down the three-course meal prepared for you by the one and only Chef Hatchet!"

As Chris said those words, Chef, now in his usual attire, walked out of the kitchen, pushing a serving trolley with a multitude of covered plates, stopping right in front of the table near the entrance. "As you might have guessed, this is a reference to the many eating challenges we had through the seasons," Chris said, while flashbacks to the eating challenges of the first, third and fourth seasons were shown to the audience.

"Wait, you said that one person from each team had to down a three-course meal," Nate interjected. "But there are 24 plates on Chef's trolley, which is twice the number needed for the challenge"

"You're quite observant, young whippersnapper!" Chris said, imitating an old man. "This is because this eating challenge has a twist! In front of every seat, there's a button. Pushing it will start a fun mini-game displayed on that monitor" Chris started explaining, as Chef wheeled in a TV screen on a stand. "The word on the screen will switch between "delicious" and "disgusting", until you push the button again. The word it lands on determines what your dish will be like. Got it?"

"Once one teammate is done with their meal, the other can start searching the kitchen for the map to the third floor. This part of the mini-challenge is obviously an homage to all the times our contestants sneaked into Chef's kitchen, both as part of a challenge and off their own free will." The flashbacks once again flashed across the screen. "The maps are drawn on the back of the wrappers to four pieces of candy hidden somewhere in Chef's lair. These wrappers correspond to the four team colors, and you can only move on, once you find your team's candy. Be careful, though – since Chef doesn't like intruders, he filled the entire place with booby traps he learned to make during his time in the military". Chef gave the three contestants a wicked smile, which made them visibly unnerved. "Also, consider yourself lucky – you're the only team that gets to hear my beautiful voice explain these rules. The rest will have to opt for my stand-in," Chris said, as the camera showed his standee in the corner of the room with a long sheet of paper in its hands.

Suddenly, the doors opened and in ran Greg, Hailey and Rosa. "What's the challenge?" Hailey asked excitedly running over to Team Purple.

"Some luck!" Damien said sarcastically. "Your babbling cost us the lead!"

"Oops, my bad! Chris out!"

* * *

[Confessional]

Chef: Ooh, this challenge is gonna be good. *snickers*

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Alright, we have to decide those who will compete in this challenge, and fast!" Damien said, as him, Nate and Molly moved away from the Green Team. "I nominate myself for part two of the challenge. I'm good at looking for things. I've been searching up dirt on my father's business rivals, since I was a toddler. Any objections?" As the other two stood in silence, he resumed. "Good. Now which of you has the stronger stomach?"

"Um, I don't think I'd be good at this" Molly said unsurely. "Maybe Nate should try"

"Oh, sure! Works for me" Nate said with uncharacteristic cheerfulness in his voice. "You know, it's so brave of you to volunteer to take on the final stretch of the race. Such confidence in your ability to withstand the pressure and fulfill everyone's expectations and willingness to take responsibility in case of failure - truly inspiring" he continued in an exasperated manner.

Molly visible tenses up at his words and muttered, "Um, now that I think about it, my stomach can definitely handle this", before hurrying over to the table.

"Heh, nice one" Damien said, smirking at Nate.

Near Chris's standee, Team Green was almost done reading through the instructions.

"Oh, I can definitely rock that eating challenge!" Hailey said excitedly. "Did I tell you how many cupcakes I had to eat to..."

"You did." Greg interrupted her, "But that's still no match for the 85 chicken wings I downed in a contest at the town fair two years ago"

Hailey huffed, before proclaiming "Well, then I will do part two. Chef's stupid traps have nothing on my signature right kick!" She demonstratively kicked the air several times.

"Um, I believe your mastery over Oriental combat styles and general athletic prowess will be more of use during the final stage of the challenge." Rosa spoke bashfully. "If I may, I volunteer to search Chef's kitchenette for the elusive confection we seek!"

"Oh, man!" Hailey pouted. "This last mini challenge better be good"

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: I gotta admit I don't understand half the words Rosa says, but, boy, does she say them pretty!

Nate: It's not that I want to do the last part of the challenge, it's just that the first two seemed like too much of a bother! Maybe the last part is playing ball with a wall until you get bored? Cause I'm great at that.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"And Luke's nine seconds are up!" Chris announced, as the boy resurfaced with a sigh.

"Don't give up! We all believe in you!" Rachel tried to cheer him up. "Right, guys?"

Kim was busy filing her nails, until Rachel nudged her arm, prompting her to lazily look up. "Yeah, totes. You the man." Kim muttered lazily, before going back to her nails.

"Yeah, way to go, Luke!" Kai cheered, "Just another twenty or so attempts and you'll be able to see something besides the bubbles coming out of your nose". His remark was met by a glare from the ginger.

"But before Team Blue gets their fourth try, Jesse has to complete his third" Chris announced, "Twelve more seconds, dude!"

Jesse was swimming as fast as he could, until he noticed a wooden chest sitting on one of the rocks. He opened it to see that it was full of golden coins and precious stones of all colors, only to empty all of its contents, until he saw the Gilded Chris statue.

"And Jesse gets the gold to get the bronze!" Chris exclaimed, as Team Yellow ran up to their teammate.

"Looks like fish bait is good for something" Drew said as La, "Who'd have thought?"

"Ignore him" Piper said, as Vicki took the map attached to the statue, "You did great!"

"Okay, let's go!" Vicki rushed them towards the exit.

"Look on the bright side, Blues" Chris teased the remaining team, "Now you've got all the time in the world. Well, at least until the race is over".

Molly and Greg sat at the table, as Chef gave the signal to start "Push your buttons, maggots!" Both teens did as they were told and the monitor displayed Molly getting "delicious" and Greg getting "disgusting". Chef put a plate in front of each and lifted the covers. In front of the Purple teammate was a bowl of onion soup, and before the Green one was the French bunion soup with nail clippings and hair from season one's disgusting brunch.

"Yay!" Molly exclaimed, looking at the bowl in front of her. "Sorry. If I took my mini chef robot, he'd never allow this to happen," she said to Greg empathetically, to which he just shrugged. He then took the spoon out of the bowl and started pouring its contents into his mouth.

"Whoa, wait up!" Molly protested, before starting to quickly eat her own soup. In a second, her opponent set his bowl down without a drop of soup left.

"Whoo, that's how you do it!" Hailey shouted, cheering for her teammate.

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: Nail clippings and hair are disgusting, but I've tried worse. Once, my band mates dared me to eat an entire extra-large pack of chips, and I accidentally dropped one of them. It landed in between our bass player's toes. Let's just say I have yet to fail to follow up on a dare. *smiles confidently*

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Disgusting again" Greg said, as Chef put the next dish on the table.

"Back as a fan favorite: the beef meatballs! " he said, as taking off the cover revealed a huge plate of beef testicles to the disgust of everyone in the room.

"Meh" Greg said, flinging three "meatballs" into the air and catching all of them with his mouth, which almost made Nate throw up, but he managed to regain his composure.

"How can you be like this?" Molly asked in bewilderment. She then downed the final spoon of her soup, held the bowl up in the air and said, "Done!" Pushing the button made it land on "Disgusting" and Chef gave her a plate identical to that of Greg. She took one of the meatballs and bit off a tiny piece, which made her make several disturbed faces before she managed to swallow it. She then looked at Greg's plate, which was already half empty and forced herself to take another meatball into her mouth, chewing it as fast as possible.

Suddenly, Team Yellow ran through the doors and Vicki shouted at Chef "Hey, what are y'all doing?", to which he pointed to Chris's standee.

As they ran up to the figure, Drew and Vicki started reading the text as quickly as possible. "Guys, wait!" Piper suddenly shouted. "Let me handle this", she then started quickly skimming through the text and in a matter of seconds, said, "One of us has to eat three potentially disgusting meals and the other has to search Chef's kitchen for yellow candy".

"Wow" Vicki said in awe.

* * *

[Confessional]

Piper: As a computer nerd, you need to have great visual perception in order to memorize all the complicated coding, so skimming passages is pretty easy for me.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Well, you have to be pretty thorough, if you're a hacker, so I think you should search the kitchen" Vicki said to Piper in an almost commanding tone.

"You really think so?" Piper asked, blushing.

"I have a pretty strong stomach, so I can do the eating." Vicki said, pointing at herself. "And besides, can you even eat with your mask on?" She asked Drew. "It doesn't have space for your mouth".

"Oh goodness!" Lu exclaimed. "You're right, I can't open my mouth! But then why are all my honey pots I have at home empty? Ahhh, there are thieves stealing my honey!" he started panicking.

"Right" Vicki said dryly and walked over to the table to take a seat next to Greg, who was just finishing his second dish.

"Time for the last course!" he said confidently, and both him and Vicki pushed their buttons. "Delicious!" they said in unison. Greg now had a slice of a cake in front of him for dessert.

"This cake is made of three different types of chocolate layered on top of one another with just a touch of lemon zest," Chef announced in a faux fancy manner.

"Ugh, I hate lemons!" Greg complained, before taking a bite and making a disgusted face, eventually pushing it down his throat with visible effort.

"You're kidding, right?" Molly said weakly, still struggling with the meatballs.

Meanwhile, the mood of Team Blue still stuck at the swimming pool couldn't get any worse. Luke was clutching to the surfboard only for it to throw him into the water again.

"Sixteen seconds! Personal best." Chris said almost mockingly. "Sixth time's the charm, huh?"

Luke started quickly looking around, before spotting a swarm of piranhas and ducking behind some corals. Suddenly, he noticed something - one of the piranhas was lagging behind, and there was something attached to its fin. As the boy squinted his eyes, he saw that it was a Chris statue.

In a few moments, he resurfaced. "Guys, I have good news and bad news. The good news is I know where the statue is"

"Finally" Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"Great job!" Rachel said excitedly.

"And what's the bad news?" Kai asked.

"The bad news is I'm not sure I'll be able to get it" Luke said, panicked.

"Mmm, what a juicy steak!" Vicki said, eyeing her second dish - a huge sliced chunk of meat. "Nice job, Chef!"

Molly, meanwhile, was almost done with her second course, eating the last meatball. "Done!" she said, before burping. "Sorry" she apologized quickly and pushed her button. The arrow stopped at "Disgusting" again.

"This cake is our new special" Chef announced and opened the cover and revealing a piece of cake in a dark brown color. "It is made of the finest earth we could find in the school yard. And everything that calls it a home" Chef said, as a beetle ran from one side of the "cake" to the other.

"Lucky" Greg said, taking another piece of his cake and wrenching, as Molly was still staring at her plate with wide eyes. "At least, you don't have to eat this crap!" he spat before forcing himself to taste the last part of the cake. "Ugh, done!"

"And this is Rosa's cue to start searching Chef's kitchen" Chris said through the intercom. "Sorry, it's pretty boring at the pool with just one team". As he said that, Rosa ran into the kitchen and opened the first drawer she saw, but that triggered a booby trap, which covered her entire upper body with white powder.

"Ow, it itches." she said, itching all over. "There's no need for this kind of aggression"

"Ah, itching powder. Classic. That's one of Chef's more harmless ones" Chris announced.

Molly was still staring at her slice of cake, before mustering all the strength she had and taking a small piece with her spoon. As she moves the spoon closer to her mouth, though, she saw a small worm crawl out of the brown matter.

"Ahhh!" she screamed in disgust, throwing her spoon away. "There's no way!" she said with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, guys, but I just can't eat this!"

"Save your tearful apologies for someone who cares" Damien began with a glare, speaking in a calm, yet intense tone. "I never once doubted that you are a failure, an ugly stain on the canvas of the human race, but I will not allow your incompetence to hinder my progress. Surely, you realize how easily I can kick you to the curb and make you a complete outcast, leaving you with no choice, but to crawl back into whatever hole you came from. So, if you don't want me to turn your life into living hell, you'll do as I say"

Molly looked shocked for a moment, before muttering "Yes, sir" and taking a bite of the cake.

* * *

[Confessional]

Molly: I wouldn't say Damien managed to intimidate me. I decided to keep going on my own accord. *someone knocks on the door and Damien's voice fills the tiny room with an "Are you gone yet?"* Uh, yes, yes, I'm already finished!

Damien: This is how I motivate the staff in my parents' mansion. Works like a charm.

Vicki: And I thought my teammates were a little wacky.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Delicious again!" Vicki said excitedly, as Chef brought her the chocolate lemon cake. "What are the odds?"

"Well, you got the same outcome out of two possible ones three times in a row" Molly stated, after chewing down another tiny piece of cake. "So, the probability is 12,5%. Unlikely, but not unimaginable"

"I'm not paying you to teach these imbeciles math," Damien said strictly, which promoted Molly to quickly take another bite.

At the swimming pool, Chris was clearly getting bored with the challenge. "Fifteen seconds" he pointed out without a hint of enthusiasm, as Luke tumbled into the water once again. However, he reemerged in a second, holding his trunks in one of his hands.

"Guess that's one way to make sure the audience remembers you, despite getting voted out first." Chris said dryly. Luke momentarily glared at him, before rolling up his trunks and throwing them to the other side of the pool. As he dived in again, he was happy to see that his plan worked and the fish were swimming towards his swimsuit.

* * *

[Confessional]

Luke: I'm not a veterinarian, but if there's one thing I've learned in biology class, it's that animals, especially predators, react most strongly to movement.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Just as expected, the fish burdened with the statue swam more slowly than its peers did. Luke managed to catch up to it and with one careful movement pushed the statue up and out of the knot. After getting it, he said a quiet "Yes!" before realizing that he was underwater, and so all that came out was bubbles. Unfortunately for him, the bubbles attracted the piranhas and now dozens of red eyes were glaring at him. He shouted in horror, which released even more bubbles, and rapidly swam to the surface.

As his teammates were standing at the edge of the pool, they saw Luke emerge from the water for a second to throw the statue right into Kai's hands, before getting dragged underwater again, while screaming.

"Chris, quick! Do something! Help him!" Rachel shouted in a panic.

"Don't worry, our lifeguards are on it" Chris said lazily, as a male intern in red swim trunks was trying to dive with water wings on to no success, while a female intern in a matching swimsuit threw a ring buoy into the water only for it to land on her male counterpart. "Once they fish him out, we'll take him to the nurse's office"

"They don't look very..." Rachel was going to say, but she was interrupted by Kai.

"Let's go!" he shouted, dragging her by the arm, as Kim followed.

In the kitchen, Rosa was going through pots in the drawers next to the oven. As she looked into another one, an animal paw grabbed her hair and started to pull her into the pot, before she barely wriggled out.

"Chef's evil lair is positively terrifying!" she said shaken from what had just taken place, as Team Blue finally ran into the cafeteria.

"Looks like the bus from Loserville has just arrived" Drew said as La, before snickering at his own joke.

"Ignore him, guys, we can still do this" Rachel reassured her teammates.

"Done!" Vicki said, rising from the table. Molly then held up her own empty plate, before starting to feel queasy and vomiting all over Vicki's outfit.

"Ew!" the other girl screamed in disgust. "Can I go use the bathroom?"

"Sorry, you have to stay put until the end of the challenge," Chris said over the intercom.

"... If we hustle that is" Rachel added, as Piper and Damien sprinted to the kitchen. "I think I can do well in the eating challenge. I work at a factory back home and you wouldn't believe the things they give us for lunch"

"Fascinating" Kim said dryly. "And who'll search Chef's kitchen?"

"You owe us one, since it's your fault we wasted so much time on the first challenge" Kai replied, pointing at her. A second later, several sharp utensils flew through the window, leading to the kitchen, and pierced the cafeteria wall near the entrance.

"Rosa!" Greg shouted, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" she said weakly. "The stars must've helped me avoid the wrath of Chef's silverware"

"Yeah, I'm not a fan of acupuncture" Kim said, "And besides, I'm still jet lagged from the trip here"

"They brought us here by bus!" Kai yelled at her, and even Rachel was starting to get annoyed with their glamorous teammate.

Suddenly, Kim changed her demeanor yet again, put her hand on Kai's shoulder and started seductively ruffling his hair. "There's no way a strong man like you will let a fragile damsel get hurt, right?" she said softly, while fluttering her eyelashes.

"Ugh, I'll do it, if you stop" he said in an annoyed tone, and walked over to the kitchen door.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kim: What's wrong with him? Normally, my feminine charm makes any guy do my bidding. It must be that I'm still tired from that bus ride.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Delicious! Phew" Rachel said, as Chef brought her the onion soup. "It's time for Team Blue to get in this thing!"

Cheerful music started playing and a montage of the teens searching the kitchen started for the audience. Rosa opened the stove, but the moment the door opened a cloud of black pepper hit her and she started sneezing uncontrollably. Damien searched the floor under one of the cabinets with his hand, until it got stuck in a mousetrap. He winced in pain and clutched his hand, before kicking under the cabinet in frustration, triggering another mousetrap with his foot, which made him scream out.

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Rachel held up her empty bowl to signify that she was done, and Chef uncovered another dish, this one holding the steak.

In the kitchen, Piper opened the faucet in the sink, but no water poured out. This made her smile, as she thought that one of the sweets might be stuck in there, before the faucet started shaking and a huge surge of mud flowed out, staining the girl's clothes, which made her face muster a disgusted grimace. Rosa took the lid off one of the pots and a swarm of bees flew out, chasing her around the kitchen. At the same time, Damien was looking through various bottles in one of the drawers, finally picking one and opening its cap just as Rosa ran past him with the bees following her. Suddenly, a horrible stench poured out of the bottle incapacitating the bees, but making both teens close their noses in disgust.

"Rachel is getting ready for meal number three," Chris announced, as Chef revealed the third dish - the disgusting earth cake. "Team Blue finally has a chance to catch up to the other teams, as our seekers have so far managed to find nothing, but pain in Chef's kitchen"

"Ugh. They should've been disqualified after that pathetic showing at the pool," Damien complained, before opening yet another drawer. As he did, though, a raccoon jumped out of it and latched onto his face, scratching it. The boy started screaming and flailing his arms, slamming into the drawer the critter came from in the process, which made a few clay pots fall off the shelf and break into small pieces.

Piper calmly approached him and managed to take the raccoon off his face, putting the animal on the ground. The little guy used this chance to escape from the kitchen. The hacker then walked past Damien and towards the broken pots on the ground.

"Blasted creature," Damien angrily muttered to himself. "Thank you", he then said halfheartedly.

"No, thank *you*" Piper answered, holding up a yellow candy she picked up from a pile of shards. "This would have been much harder, if not for your overreaction", she said, before eating the candy and rushing out of the kitchen with the wrapper.

Damien groaned at Piper's success and kicked one of the shards on the ground, before turning around and seeing Chef glaring at him through the window. The large man gave him an "I'm watching you" sign, before turning back to the cafeteria.

"And Piper puts Team Yellow in the lead!" Chris announced, as she approached her teammates and showed them the map. Much like the previous map, this one had one of the areas circled in red.

"Alright, now it's all in your hands, Drew. We believe in you" Vicki encouraged, before frowning. "Now go! Go!"

"Sheesh, I'm going" La the Wolf said, "No need to get your vomit stained panties in a not", earning him a glare from the singer.

As Drew left, Rachel was struggling to down the gross dessert as fast as possible.

* * *

[Confessional]

Rachel: The number one rule on dealing with disgusting food at our factory is to stuff your face with it as fast as you can, so you don't have to feel its taste for as long and so you can focus on the eating speed and not how much you wanna throw up.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Gulping what was in her mouth with great effort, Rachel held her plate up above her head. "Done!" she said, before burping out a worm.

"And Rachel is done with the course! Which means Kai can finally start his scavenger hunt!"

"Well done!" Kai shouted to Rachel, before running into the kitchen. As he entered, he saw Damien sprayed in the face with a jet of water after opening another drawer, before Rosa got pinned to the wall by sharp utensils right next to the newcomer.

"Oh goodness" she said meekly, as Kai's eyes went wide.

On the third floor, Drew was quickly switching his focus between the map and his surroundings, coming to a halt before large brown double doors. Next to him were a bicycle, a pogo stick, a pair of wooden stilts and a pig tied to a pipe behind it.

"Before you go through these doors, pick what you'll use for the final mini challenge," Chris said through the intercom. "But choose wisely, you won't be able to abandon it halfway through the challenge"

"Come here, piggy-piggy" La said in a fake nice tone, causing the animal to back away.

"Stop it, La! Animals are friends, not food!" Lu scolded him.

"That's not what you said, when went out for sushi"

"Um, well, that's like totally different!"

"Don't argue, friends" Drew interfered in his neutral mask. "Let's pick the bicycle. It seems like the most reliable thing here" he said, taking the bike and going through the doors.

Behind the doors was a large gym with a big court in the middle and rows of bleachers to the sides. The court had two basketball hoops set up opposite of each other and a volleyball net in the middle. The edges of the court that were closer to the bleachers were closed off with a low wooden fence and covered with an orange oily liquid. Right in front of him was another Chris standee.

"So, let's begin with the challenge instructions" Chris said eagerly. "Our last mini challenge is a reference to the many obstacle courses we threw at our contestants," he cited, as the flashback showed images from seasons six, five and one in that order. "First, you'll have to race through the perimeter of the gym, currently covered entirely in grease. You go on until you reach that large window" Chris implied the window, next to which the fence ended. "Then, you'll have to grab one of the four ropes descending from the window seal and climb down into the schoolyard. Finally, you'll have to sprint through the yard to the finish line, while passing through obstacles. I'll be waiting for you there. Good luck!"

Drew climbed on his bike and started to pedal over the greasy path only for the vehicle to slip and throw him off, as he landed face first into the grease.

"Ew, now it will stick to my fur," Lu said hopelessly.

In the kitchen, Kai was quickly scanning his surroundings, before setting his sights on a refrigerator.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: As the last person there, I didn't have time to aimlessly search through the drawers, so I had to think. Chris said this challenge is a reference to the times contestants sneaked into Chef's kitchen, so...

[End Confessional]

* * *

Kai opened the refrigerator door, kneeled down and started looking around.

"Don't bother, we've searched it already" Damien said, standing close to Kai, "there's nothing there". As he looked up, he saw the ceiling fan and noticed something dangling on a string from one of the paddles. He squinted his eyes to see that it was a purple piece of candy and a smile formed on his face.

Ignoring Damien, Kai removed a bottle of milk from one of the shelves to reveal a fish lying behind it. He took it out and pushed his hand into the fish's mouth.

"This is repulsive," Damien said with a look of disgust on his face, as he pulled up a chair to help him reach the fan.

Kai then pulled something out of the fish, that something being blue candy.

"I knew Chris wouldn't pass up on the opportunity to reference it" he remarked proudly, and still in a kneeled down position, looked at the kitchen. His eyes widened when he noticed the last piece of candy taped to the underside of the kitchen table. The wrapper was obviously green.

Kai looked at Rosa who was searching for the sweet on the other side of the room. He then quickly ducked under the table and tore off the tape, which made the candy fall on the floor. However, he wasn't quick enough, and it rolled out from under the table into plain sight, before the boy managed to catch it.

"Dropped something?" Damien asked, standing on the chair he pulled up. "Didn't your mom teach you not to steal someone else's food?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really?" Damien asked sarcastically. "Then I guess you won't mind if I call her over?" he inquired, motioning to Rosa.

Kai sighed. "Fine, what can I do to keep your mouth shut?"

"Funny you should ask, I can't quite reach that paddle," he said, pointing at the paddle with the dangling sweet. "But I believe our combined height should do the trick".

"Alright, then step down, so I can climb on your back" Kai offered.

"Nice try, buddy," Damien said, smirking. "But there is no way you're staining my suit. Plus, I can't give you a chance to just jump down and escape"

"Ugh, this makes no sense" Kai said, as Damien started to climb on his back. "You're taller than me. Ow!" he shouted, as the other boy clutched his head to steady himself.

Damien, standing on Kai's shoulders, was now able to reach the candy comfortably. He waited for the correct paddle to come close and pulled on the sweet. Unfortunately, he couldn't tear it off and instead was pulled by the spinning fan. Both teens screamed as they lost their balance and fell down.

"Please, tell me you got it" Kai said, lying on the ground.

Damien sat up, rubbing his neck, before saying, "It's your lucky day", as he held up the purple candy.

"Are you two injured?" Rosa ran up to them, worried. The green candy was lying on the floor, as Kai's eyes went wide, because he couldn't reach it from his lying position. Damien saw this and quickly covered the candy with his hand. "We're just fine" he said with a smile. After the girl stepped away, he took the candy and stood up.

"Hey!" Kai yelled, standing up himself.

Damien smirked and tossed it back to him. "Pleasure doing business with you"

"And teams Blue and Purple move on!" Chris exclaimed when both of them walked back into the cafeteria. Kai quickly tossed the green candy into the trashcan near the kitchen door, which didn't go unnoticed by Rachel.

As Nate and Kim ran out of the cafeteria, Kai took one of the seats at the table. Seconds later, Rachel sat next to him.

"I saw what you did and you should give them back their you know what"

"Why?" Kai asked innocently.

"Because it's wrong!" Rachel shouted.

"And what makes it wrong? Chris didn't say that hindering other teams is not allowed" Kai reasoned.

"It's unsportsmanlike! If you don't want to return it to the kitchen, I will"

"Fine. If you want to be an idiot who sabotages her team, be my guest. I wonder if you'll still have this holier than thou attitude, when we have to vote someone off" he spat angrily. Rachel huffed and crossed her arms, but remained seated nonetheless.

* * *

[Confessional]

Rachel: I wanted to do the right thing, but then Kai would paint me as a traitor to the others. Sorry, Rosa.

Kai: It was nothing personal. In fact, I prefer Team Green to the people I'm stuck with. But right now not coming last is a priority.

Damien: Yeah, I was lying to Kai back in the kitchen. I wouldn't tell Rosa anything, even if he didn't help me. It is important to stall Hailey as much as possible, since she can pretty much dominate any competition with the other three. Still, I'm glad he fell for my bluff *takes his candy in his mouth, before spitting it out* Ugh, cheap chocolate.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Kim and Nate raced through the third floor trying to find the place circled on their maps. They reached it at approximately the same time. After looking at the remaining "modes of transportation", Nate reached for the pink pogo stick only to be tackled to the ground by Kim, as she snatched it away.

"Na-na-na-na-na" Kim said in a sing-songy fashion. "Bye, loser!" After uttering these words, she went through the door.

"Real mature" Nate muttered, rolling his eyes. "Alright, rule number one: never work with children or animals, so I guess this will do" he said unsurely, before taking the wooden stilts.

After walking through the doors, he saw Drew almost halfway through the greased up track. He was riding his bike on full speed, before it slipped once again, crashing into the fence, which sent Drew flying to the center of the gym.

"Ew" Kim said, unwilling to get to the challenge. "This grease can't be good for my hair".

"Guess that's too bad, then" Nate replied, before getting on the stilts and walking onto the grease covered track. He decided to be careful and take tiny steps. "Well, at least I'm not slipping"

Just then, Kim skipped past him. "Hey, this thing is good! Go me!"

"Man!" he said disappointedly.

"Whose idea was this to get the bike again?" La asked rhetorically, as Drew sat on the bike.

"Well, I didn't think grease would be involved" he said in his defense. He then started pedaling the bicycle more slowly in hopes that it prevents the vehicle from going off course.

"It's okay, Nate, slow and steady wins the race" the teen told himself, still just a few steps away from the starting line.

"I like the version "Slow and steady makes you elimination-ready" way more" Kim taunted him, as she skipped around him.

"Don't you have better things to do? You could've already crossed the finish line, you know" Nate pointed out, clearly annoyed with the girl's antics.

"Nah" she protested, "You look adorable when you're helpless". She kept cheerfully circling Nate, until she lost her balance and slipped crashing into Nate from behind and making both of them slide across the course. As they were nearing the corner of the gym, Nate quickly took one of the stilts and rammed it into the corner, pushing Kim and himself and resuming their greasy slide.

It didn't take long for them to catch up to Drew who was just a few meters away from the open window. He turned around to see where the screaming came from and after seeing the greasy pile closing in on him, he tried to ride his bike to the side to avoid it. However, he couldn't do it in time and was swept away along with his bike. In a few seconds, the three students and their "vehicles" all crashed into the wall next to the aforementioned window.

"Great job, Kim! That's one mad equalizer!" Chris exclaimed, as the teens groaned, still lying on the ground. "Now you'll have to get down to the schoolyard using these ropes. Don't forget – you have to take your "vehicle" of choice to the finish line in the schoolyard or it doesn't count. If it breaks, or dies, before you get there, you automatically get last place, got it?"

"Wait, but I used my stilts to steer us. Do I have to go back and get them now?" Nate asked.

"I'm afraid so, my dude" Chris said. Nate groaned and started slowly walking back to avoid slipping, while the two others started their slow descent.

In the kitchen, Rosa was still looking for the coveted candy, while Greg and Hailey were getting more anxious by the minute, standing by one of the tables in the cafeteria.

"Oh man, this is so bad!" Hailey whined, lazily resting her upper body on the table.

"Meh, it's just the first challenge" Vicki reassured her from her seat at the opposite table. "How bad can this punishment be?"

"It's not that!" Hailey answered. "I might become the first TD contestant ever to not participate in the first challenge of the season!"

Just then, a zapping noise came from the kitchen, and a few seconds later, Rosa walked out of the room with her hair resembling an afro and her head down.

"What happened?!" Greg asked, running up to her.

"Attempted to look behind the oven. Received Jupiter's wrath" she said in a weak voice. "I am so sorry, team. I don't think I can complete this challenge". Tear started welling up in her eyes, as Rachel glared at Kai once again, to which he rolled his eyes.

Greg got sad for a moment, before furrowing his brows. "Rosa, I know you're tired from all the searching, but you have to dig deep and find the strength to push forward. I know you can do it! You're the nicest, smartest, most talented girl I've ever met!"

"You've met, like, an hour ago," Hailey said with a puzzled expression.

Rosa wiped her tears and gave her teammates a brief smile before getting serious again. "Thanks, Gregory. You are absolutely correct. I have to keep going for our team"

She then stepped up to the kitchen door, but before she entered, she noticed something in the trashcan, and reached her hand into the trash to get it.

"Uh, Rosa, now's not the time for lunch" Hailey said, confused, which earned her a few bewildered looks. "Rough childhood" she explained.

"No, it's the emerald treat!" the writer exclaimed, as she showed them the green candy.

"You found it!" Greg said happily, before holding Rosa up and spinning her. Behind him, Hailey coughed loudly and extended her hand. When Rosa gave her the wrapper, she looked at it briefly, jogged on the spot, while making an engine noise, and finally sprinted out of the cafeteria as fast as the wind.

"Wait, but why was the candy here? Chris said to search for it in the kitchen" Greg asked the others.

"Maybe he lied?" Molly suggested.

"Wouldn't be the first time" Piper remarked in response.

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: Yeah, yeah, go ahead and call my speech back there cheesy, but my pep talk really cheered Rosa up. Seeing her smile from my work made me feel like a superhero!

Rosa: Chris McLean, I swear I shall seek vengeance for the dishonor you brought upon my name. *sighs and calms down* I am incredibly grateful to Gregory for his words of encouragement. If he were a character in one of my books, he would be the cheerful sidekick who always finds the right words to motivate the clearly more complex hero.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Hailey runs up to the entrance to the gym and looks at the pig standing there.

"Say hello to your partner for the last mini challenge! Make sure it makes it to the finish line without any major injuries. We don't want any more angry emails from the animal rights people," Chris says over the intercom.

"Alright then," the athlete says with little confidence, before starting to slap her knees. "Who's a good boy? You are!" she says excitedly, despite a lack of response from the animal, as it maintained its indifferent facial expression. "Hmm, what should I call you?" she pondered for a moment. "I know! Truffles! Cause I once saw on TV that you guys love them. Well, let's go!" she took the pig by the leash and went through the gym doors.

* * *

[Confessional]

Hailey: Oh, I couldn't ask for a better companion, than Truffles! I feel like we're well on our way to become true soulmates!

Truffles: *oinks angrily for a few moments, before holding up a picture of Hailey, pointing to it and rolling his eyes*

[End Confessional]

* * *

Hailey walked into the gym and saw the greased up track. After skimming through the rules provided by the Chris standee, she approached the starting line.

"There's no way I can ride this poor critter," she says, briefly looking over at Truffles. "But running will make it slip and fall, so..." she then picked up the piggy and holstered it up on her shoulders, before starting to walk as fast as she could with the massive animal on her back.

Meanwhile, Nate finally retrieved both of his stilts, approached the window and looked down. Drew and Kim were both still making their way down, the weight of their "vehicles" slowing them down considerably.

"This stupid f****** bike is too heavy" La complained, as he was climbing down slowly, using one of his hands to keep the bike resting on his shoulders, while the other one and his legs fumbled with the red colored rope. "We're only now halfway there!"

"Quit whining!" Kim shouted, her position similar to his, except she simply held the pogo stick in one of her hands. "At least your rope doesn't smell like hair balls!"

Suddenly, they both got startled by the wooden stilts plummeting to the ground below. "Well, it was nice knowin' ya!" Nate shouted, as he slid on the rope between them fire fighter-style. However, the friction was too much for his rope and it burst into flames, prompting him to scream. When he reached the ground, he took a moment, before letting go of the rope and letting his upper body fall to the ground, his palms emitting smoke.

"And Nate takes the lead!" Chris announces.

Seeing this, Drew quickly changed his mask to Lu, who started sniffing the rope. "Yum, it's candy!" he said happily, before lifting the mask slightly and taking a bite. "No, wait!" Drew shouted, but it was too late, as the rope tore and sent them falling, the bike landing on the boy.

"Drew's done with the second part of the race, and his bike is still intact! Not sure if we can say the same about his spine, though" Chris spoke over the intercom.

"Oh, come on!" Kim protested, but continued her slow descent.

* * *

[Confessional]

Drew: *as himself* Lu, don't you know how risky it was to do this? We could've been killed or disqualified! *as Lu* Caaandy!

Kim: Sure, I could jump down like the circus freak did, but let's be real for a sec, who in their right mind would risk all this beauty to win that race?

[End Confessional]

* * *

As Drew and Nate stood up, they saw an obstacle course consisting of three parts before them. First, there was a series of hanging tires, then a muddy pool with three ropes swinging above it and finally a large canopy of barbed wire with mud underneath. Just after it was the finish line.

"This one is simple - get to the finish line, which is where I am now, as fast as possible," Chris said through a loudspeaker in his hands, standing under the "Finish" sign with all the other students, bar Luke, standing next to him. "Seriously, hurry up, I'm getting bored"

Both boys started on the first part, and as Drew struggled to push his bike through the tires, Nate gained a small early lead.

In the gym, Hailey was still just making her way through the greasy trail, panting and breathing heavily. She finally turned the corner, now going along the wall leading to the window with the ropes.

The screen split into three parts, one with Hailey carrying the pig, the other with Kim climbing down the rope and the last one showing Nate and Drew fighting for frost place on the tires. "Four students, but only one winner - who will it be, I wonder?" Chris pondered.

Nate made it to the swinging ropes, latched onto one and tried to reach the next rope, but didn't time his movements properly, falling into the mud.

"Ugh, I can barely move. There's no way I can swim to the other side" he said, before turning back to get to the edge of the mud pool. Meanwhile, Drew pushed his bike through the last tire and ran up to the ropes. He started swinging on the first one, the bicycle holstered on his back, and, timing it perfectly, managed to reach the second one.

Kim, meanwhile, just made it to the tires. She carefully pushed the pogo stick through the first one, but it kicked up mud on landing, some of which stained the girl's clothing. "Ew, when will this torture end?" she whined.

"This black one looks sturdy" Hailey said as she started climbing down a thick black rope with the pig still on her back. She just began her descent, when Truffles looked at the ground below him and panicked, closing Hailey's eyes with his hooves. "Whoa, buddy, calm down!" Hailey said, trying to pacify the animal to no avail. She then switched one of her hands' position and it landed on a place, where the "rope" had a dent, exposing the wires inside. This gave both the girl and the pig a huge electric shock, forcing Hailey to let go of the rope and fall to the ground.

On the obstacle course, Nate was using his stilts to get across the sea of mud, while Drew was attempting to get through it by swinging. Both of them reached the end of part two at around the same time and climbed under the barbed wire, all the while glaring at each other.

"Oh, please, please, Truffles, don't die on me now!" Hailey said, kneeling before the pig's body. She quickly gulped and started performing mouth-to-mouth and heart massage on the animal. In a moment, Truffles opened his eyes. "Yay!" Hailey said cheerfully. "Now, let's do this!" Despite her determination, the animal was still clearly terrified and backed away from her, before running over to her other side.

"Truffles, I said let's do it now!" Hailey shouted, now impatient with the pig. His eyes went wide for a moment, before they squinted and he started sprinting towards the obstacle course, sweeping Hailey off her feet and making her land on his back, while facing the wrong way in the process.

The angered pig tore the tires off their ropes, making them circle his head like a dog cone. He then jumped into the pool of mud, passing Kim, as he ran so fast that he managed to avoid getting stuck in the mud, all the while Hailey was screaming bloody murder. Finally, he reached the barbed wire and tore through it, rapidly gaining on the boys. Drew and Nate scrambled in horror, as they saw the pig approach, but were soon trampled down by him and were left to watch as the animal crossed the finish line with Hailey on his back.

"And Team Green wins the first challenge of the season!" Chris announced, as Greg, Martin and Rosa ran up to Hailey, chanting her name. Greg lifted the still disoriented girl on his shoulders, as Martin and Rosa kept cheering for her.

"What do you mean they won?" Nate protested, as him, Drew and Kim approached the host. "That pig just trashed the entire course without actually going through the obstacles".

"Actually, the only requirement was getting to the finish line", Chris explained. "How you did this was up to you", which made Nate roll his eyes.

"Anyway, based on where the other three were, when Hailey crossed the finish line, Team Purple came second, Team Yellow third and Team Blue proved themselves the ultimate losers". This prompted the latter team to groan in disappointment.

"So, what reward are we getting?" Martin asked the host.

"And what is our punishment?" Rachel asked right after.

"Do we get to vote someone off?" Kai inquired, glaring at Kim, who glared back at him.

"Well, the truth is..." Chris said, "We are out of time!"

"Out of time?" Vicki asked, not completely understanding what the host meant.

"Yes, we have to wrap things up for today, so if you will…" the host said to the cameraman, who quickly zoomed it on him.

"This is it for the premiere of our brand new season! What awesome reward is awaiting Team Green? What horrendous punishment am I going to unleash on Team Blue? And will Hailey need a rabies shot after that wild ride? Find out next time on Total Drama School Liiiiife!"

* * *

 _Hey there! Thanks so much for reading the first chapter of my very first fanfic. I'm super excited to tell this story, so I'm really hoping you enjoyed! I will try to upload new chapters as regularly as possible. For now, I'd really appreciate it if you left a review and told me what you liked or didn't like about the chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome!_


	2. Ch 2: Flags from Venus, Flags from Mars

**Chapter 2: Flags from Venus, Flags from Mars**

"Last time on Total Drama School Life" Chris started, as footage from the last episode started rolling on the screen, "Sixteen new contestants enrolled into the most dramatic school ever run by moi! After a not-so-quick introduction, they were divided into four teams and took a sprint down memory lane, taking part in some of TD's most iconic challenges! Eventually, Hailey's pig-whispering skills, or lack thereof, won the first challenge for Team Green, while Team Blue's inability to go through a single leg of the race without bickering landed them in last place".

Chris sat in a black leather armchair at a wooden desk stacked with trophies and books with several certificates hanging on the dark blue wall behind him. A tall dark haired intern was standing next to him and holding a plate with a few glasses filled with colorful liquid.

"Today's challenge will have our students feel more than a little territorial. Want to find out more? Then keep watching Total Drama School Life!" he finished, before taking a sip of one of the cocktails. "Ugh, too sour!" he scolded, frowning at the intern.

[Intro]

"We're all tired and in desperate need of a bath" Kim said in an annoyed tone, as she followed Chris, along with all other students, besides Luke. "What else do you want us to see?" The host came to a halt near a rather unremarkable grey two-story building not too far from the finish line of the first challenge.

"Alright, guys, I know it has been a long day, but I don't care" Chris said with his trademark smile, ignoring the teen's complaints. "I still need to show you something. Behold, the dorms!" he finished in a faux epic manner.

The crew followed him inside, where the first thing that caught their attention was a long brown curtain descending from above, blocking the part of the hall furthest from the entrance. The half of the room that wasn't obscured from their sight had the same white walls and wooden floors as many classrooms in the school, and its only notable sights were two doors - one to their left and another to their right.

"What's that curtain for?" Molly asked, looking at it in confusion.

"All in due time, my child" Chris stated calmly. "First, follow me", he instructed, before going through the door to the right.

The room behind the door was long and narrow with its walls painted blue. To the left stood three bunk beds with a few drawers near them and to the right was a small circular table with two chairs pulled up to it and a door leading elsewhere.

"This is the boys' dorm room. It has everything you need for a comfortable stay here!" Chris announced. "Like beds!" he added humorously.

"What about the A/C?" Jesse asked.

"Or the TV?" Greg added.

"Or the butlers?" Damien asked incredulously, which prompted a few weird looks.

"We even added a table, in case any of you want to play "Spin the bottle", which we hope you do, cause that would be a huge boost to the ratings" Chris said happily, ignoring the boys' demands.

"Ew" Vicki responded in disgust.

"That door over there leads to the potty." Chris resumed, motioning at the door to the right side of the room. "The producers and I were originally going to build an outdoor bathroom, like in most other seasons, but the dudes in the legal team said something like, since it's a school, we have to obey the Education Board's regulations, blah-blah-blah... so we had to build them inside the dorms."

"Chris, there are only six beds here" Martin interjected, "Aren't we two beds short?"

"No," Chris said calmly. "No, we're not".

Rachel then suddenly gasped "Wait, if it's just six beds, and if it's fair to assume that the girls' room is the same as the boys' one, does that mean the whole Team Blue is out?"

"No way! That's no fair!" Kim protested

"Oh, for my sake, no!" Chris spat angrily. "No one is out yet! But if I hear another question from any of you, I'll start eliminating people on the spot!" This quickly managed to silence the contestants. "Anyway, the girls' dorm room is pretty much the same" he said, before exiting the room.

"And now, for the main event!" Chris announced as he stood in front of the huge curtain. The curtain started to slowly open, and soon the students could see a large marble staircase, covered with a carpet, leading up to a balcony. The staircase's black handrails featured elaborate floral patterns. The teens, still in awe of the finesse around them, made their way upstairs and stopped before large black doors. "Welcome to the Deluxe Suite aka The Winners' Quarters!"

"First things first" Chris announced, turning left and leading them to a red door instead. Inside was a large room with four king-size beds and several armoires near them and paintings adorning the walls.

"Now that's more like it," Kim said with a smile on her face, before she was almost swept off her feet, when someone sprinted past her and ran to the beds.

That someone turned out to be Hailey, who was now jumping up and down one of the beds. "Whoooo, this is fuuun! Hey, Rosa, come try it out!"

"Oh, if I must" Rosa said apprehensively, and climbed up the bed, when Hailey took her by the hands and started to skip around the bed with her. "Well, this is certainly a novel feeling" she said, somewhat shaken.

"This is the Girls' Suite equipped with king-size beds, which allow you to regulate how soft or hard the mattresses are. Neat, isn't it?" Chris explained.

"Yeah, man, this is way better than those bunk beds" Greg remarked happily.

"Pillow fight!" Hailey shouted, as she slapped Rosa with a pillow, prompting feathers to fly in every direction.

"Oh dear!" Rosa exclaimed in surprise, before holding up another pillow to block the athletic girl's attacks.

"(Cough) If you're done trashing the place, we can move on" Chris said annoyedly, as he went through the door to the right of the room. Behind it, the students found a huge room with white and gold walls and a few points of interest scattered around.

"Look at that TV!" Rachel pointed, as she approached a gigantic screen at the center of the room. "We could hold movie nights here!" she said in excitement.

"This collection of consoles is pretty impressive" Nate remarked critically, as he looked through the consoles, lying around on the floor near the TV. "Wow, they even have Twintendo '54, which is a relic at this point"

"And they have some vintage video games here, like the original "Deadly Brawl"! Awesome!" Martin said, rummaging through the drawers nearby.

"Heh, that's nothing!" Jesse said, standing on a treadmill in the left corner of the room. "This training equipment is bomb!" The camera panned out to reveal nearly a dozen different exercise machines.

"So many rare editions!" Molly said in disbelief, as she looked through a few book shelves not too far from the training equipment.

"Medicine, history, arts..." Piper looked at the names of different sections. "Mathematics - wait, is that..." she said, before gasping, "this is one of the works of Ava Lovegrace - the first ever programmer! How did you get your hands on that?"

"This bar stand is the best thing here, if you ask me" Kim said, sitting down on of the bar stools.

"Care for a drink?" Vicki asked playfully, as she stood behind the counter and held up the cocktail shaker.

"Wait, guys, is that a...?" Greg asked, pointing to something, as he approached the girls.

"Hot tub!" all three of them shouted in unison, before running over to the jacuzzi.

Just as they were about to jump in, the sound of a referee whistle took over the room. "Halt!" Chris shouted. "Let me finish our guided tour. The boys' deluxe suit is through that door to the right, but much like in the regular dorm rooms, it's nearly identical to the girls' suite. Now, if you would just follow me outside"

"I hope you enjoyed the Deluxe Suite, because for most of you, this was additional motivation to do your best, since, as you must have guessed by the name, the Winners' Quarters are for winners only. So, no one but members of Team Green are allowed to come in, until the next challenge winner is announced." The announcement was met by high fives among Team Green members and groans from everyone else. "Anyway, this has been a long day, so you can spend the remainder of the day however you like. Make sure to get some rest, cause tomorrow will be even longer"

As Chris exited the dorms, Martin said, "Well, I think all four of us agree that we will spend the rest of the day in the suite, right, guys?" to which the other three nodded, after which they walked through the doors to the suite's hall.

The remaining students stood in silence for a few seconds, before Kim shouted "Dibs on the shower!" and ran down the stairs.

"Wait, I still have to wash my mouth after that cake!" Molly yelled, chasing after the beauty queen.

"Taking a bath should be the number one priority." Lu said in a preachy tone. "Bad hygiene can lead to all kinds of health problems"

"Who are you to tell me what to do, huh? My mom?" La asked mockingly. "You can't make me do anything!"

"Yes, I can. I am you!" the bear said, running to the boys' dorm room.

"Ahhh! Help! Crazy bear on the loose!" the wolf cried, before disappearing behind doors.

After a brief silence, Katya began "Perhaps it is a good idea to go to our rooms for now. See you, boys", and the boys and girls split off to head to their rooms.

* * *

Piper, Vicki and Katya walked into the girls' dorm and saw Molly banging on the bathroom door.

"Come on, Kim, hurry up!" the nerdette shouted, "I have to wash up and I kinda wanna pee now!"

"Sorry, Velma, but textbook perfection takes a lot of time, not that I'd expect you to understand" Kim shouted from the shower.

"Yeah, this could take a while" Vicki said with a smirk, as she sat down on one of the beds.

"Hey, Vicki," Piper said meekly, as she approached the singer. "I'm thinking of exploring the school a bit more, do you wanna go together?"

"I can't believe you still have the energy to do that, I'm completely exhausted" Molly remarked from near the bathroom door.

"I'm sorry, girl, but I still smell like barf, so I'm just gonna wait until those two are finished" Vicki apologized, motioning to Molly.

"Uh, alright then" Piper said, a little disappointed. "Katya?"

"Hmm, learning the layout of the school could prove to be an advantage further in the game" the ballerina reasoned. "But I'm afraid I also need a shower. Chlorinated water can turn my hair green."

Piper sighed, before desperately trying out the last option "Rachel?", but heard no response and realized the girl wasn't there.

"Where is Rachel?" Molly asked, now crossing her legs to stifle her urge to use the bathroom.

"I heard her say she had to talk to one of the boys," Katya said.

"Well, someone's quick" Vicki chuckled.

"Please, from what I've seen of her, she's probably teaching the guys how to fold their socks or something" Kim joined the conversation, over the sound of running water, which prompted a few snickers from the girls.

"I guess I'll go by myself, then" Piper said, slightly dejected.

* * *

[Confessional]

Piper: The reason I wanted to explore the school was actually to spend more time with Vicki - she's one of my favorite singers of all time, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I don't want her to think I'm obsessed or anything, so i had to follow through. Hopefully, there's something interesting in this school.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Meanwhile, Jesse, Damien and Nate entered the boys' dorm with the former telling the other two about one of his parkour tricks.

"So, that's how I became the first person ever to do a somersault of a moving tower crane" Jesse boasted. "I even got a certificate that proves it."

"This is quite impressive, my friend" Damien said in a friendly manner. "The ease with which you pull off these tricks is incredible"

"I just make it sound easy, bro" Jesse interjected. "I was getting ready for that jump for over a year. The first time I tried it, I totally fractured my arm, but after a few months of medical therapy and intense training, I was good as knew and even developed my biceps more. If any of you wanna kiss'em, I might actually let you" he offered, flexing his arms.

"I will, uh, consider it" Damien replied, taken aback by the athlete's strange offer.

* * *

[Confessional]

Damien: Jesse is obviously a narcissistic muscle head without a speck of intellect, and that's exactly what makes him a great potential ally. Self-absorbed people are always the easiest to manipulate - just feed their ego and you've got them wrapped around your finger. Plus, his brawn makes him a great bodyguard... or human shield.

Jesse: Damien seems like a really awesome dude - a bit uptight, but he can recognize real talent! The dude's also rich, and I've been looking for sponsors, so it's great that he's feeling friendly!

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Ah, there are cameras here, too - awesome!" Jesse cheered, looking at one of the cameras in the corner of the room. "Every single move of mine will be seen by the whole world!"

"Of course there are cameras - how else would Chris get the footage from here?" Nate asked rhetorically, clearly sick of the other boy's antics.

"I guess he hit his head too many times, trying to jump fences" La taunted Jesse. "All of the screws got loose"

"Hey, watch what you're saying, doggy!" the athletic boy retaliated. "Call me dumb if you want, but jumping fences?! I've scaled walls taller than you can even imagine!"

"Oh, someone's getting mad! I'm so scared of you coming up here and backflipping onto me!"

"Stop it, La! We have to be considerate towards the mentally challenged!" Lu scolded the wolf, as Jesse was getting angrier with every word.

"Okay, that's it! You are dead meat! Stop mocking me and stop playing around with those stupid masks" he shouted, before lunging at Drew, which the latter barely managed to dodge. Jesse then started to chase him around the room.

Nate, who was still standing near the door with his head in his hands, turned to Damien sitting on one of the beds. "Can't you make them stop?"

"I probably could, but I'm enjoying this quite a bit - it's like watching two silly monkey go at it," the rich guy said with a smile.

"Whatever" Nate mumbled, as he left the room.

* * *

Kai was looking around on the second floor of the school building, before coming across a pink door, and stepping inside. There, he saw a room with its walls covered in pink wallpaper with hearts on it. To the left there were a few drawers with medicine, and the rest of the space was occupied by five beds and the machinery they were hooked to. Lying on the leftmost bed was his teammate - Luke. Instead of his usual clothing, he was dressed in a hospital gown. His arms and legs were covered with bandages.

"Oh, hi, uh,…» Luke tried to greet his teammate, but realized that he didn't remember his name.

"Kai"

"Right, sorry, I'm not good with names. I wasn't expecting any visitors," Luke said, lifting himself up a bit.

"Don't get too excited - Rachel wanted to check up on you, but decided that a boy should visit you to avoid any awkward moments. She also told me to bring you something to eat" Kai explained unenthusiastically, as he showed the ginger a plate with the non-disgusting cake from the previous challenge. "I brought it from the cafeteria; Chef wasn't there for some reason"

"Thanks, that's really thoughtful of her. But I can't really eat it by myself" Luke pointed out in an embarrassed manner, holding up his arms.

"You're not expecting me to feed you, right?" Kai asked skeptically.

Luke smiled briefly, before pointing to the small table next to his bed. "Just put it here, I'll ask the school nurse to feed me. Speaking of which, where is she?" Kai did as he was told, but the impact with the table caused the piece of cake to fall on its side, which the teen rushed to get back up. The cake, however, kept falling and Kai kept stubbornly trying to make it stand upright, getting angrier with every attempt. "You're a bit of a perfectionist, aren't you?" Luke asked worriedly.

Kai looked at him for a moment, before saying "You seem kind of familiar. I just can't tell exactly how"

The other boy looked surprised and quickly muttered "No, there's no way - I've never met you before. You're probably confusing me with someone"

"Maybe you're right. Hey, how did you get here anyway?"

"Well, the interns managed to get me out of the pool and..." as Luke was about to tell the story, the door to the nurse's office was kicked open and inside burst in none other than Chef Hatchet in a pink and white nurse uniform and a blonde wig.

"Chef?" Kai asked, slowly stepping away from the bed.

"What are you doing here? The patient needs peace and quiet" Chef barked at the teen. "And this!" he exclaimed, pulling out a huge syringe.

"What is that?" Luke asked, before Chef drilled the syringe into his arm, prompting him to scream, as Kai froze in place, wide eyed.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to give you something to help with the pain" Chef remarked absentmindedly, before taking out a large red lollipop and shoving it into Luke's mouth. He then pushed the syringe into his arm once more, as the teen screamed again, this time muffled by the lollipop.

"I think I'll… just let you rest for a bit" Kai excused himself, before running out of the room.

* * *

Piper was looking through the shelves in the library on the second floor. The library was a large room with green walls filled with dozens of neatly lined up bookcases with the books arranged in the alphabetical order.

"There has to be something on computers, right?" Piper asked herself as she turned around and saw someone's hair peeking out above the back of a sofa a few steps away. "And I thought I was the only one nerdy enough to go to the library on the first day of school" As she approached the sofa, she noticed a table in front of it, which was currently almost completely occupied by some board game. Piper then turned to face the sofa and saw that the hair belonged to Nate, who was sleeping soundly, while sitting on the couch. The girl stopped for a second before starting to poke his head.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Nate shouted, shaken from the rude awakening.

"Sorry, I just noticed that you've brought "Castleroamers". I didn't expect to find another fan here." Piper explained bashfully.

"Well, I didn't exactly bring it here, I just found it"

"You found a board game in a school library?" Piper asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I have no idea either." the boy shrugged. "Wait, are you seriously a roamer? I thought chicks were only into vampire romance and whatnot"

"Vampire romance?" Piper gave Nate a funny look. "What was the last time you talked to a girl before coming here?"

"Um, not counting my mom, three years ago, I think?"

"For someone who falls asleep over a board game, you're kinda hilarious," the hacker noted.

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: Yeah, that was totally a joke *shakes head*

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Anyway, wanna play?" Nate suggested. "Let me warn you, though, I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl"

"You won't have to - I won last year's Castleroamers State Championship for British Columbia" Piper boasted

"I came top ten in the National Online Championship! Roamed 63 castles!" Nate tried to upstage her.

"Online? Pfft, I'm talking about the real deal here." Piper said somewhat mockingly.

"Heh, online tournaments are way more competitive and require more skill than the "real deal". Though I guess, I should let my game prove that. Let the best roamer win!" The two glared at each other and shook hands, before getting to the game.

* * *

The moon was already shining outside, and the several street lamps on school grounds were turned on, though nothing provided as much light as windows on the upper floor of the dormitory.

"Man, this boss is just unbeatable. I can't believe how tough they made this multiplayer mode" Greg complained, sitting on a couch in front of the TV screen in the Deluxe Suite with a controller in his hands. He was wearing dark blue swim trunks, while Hailey was sitting next to him in a red bikini.

"If I don't explode this stupid dragon's face in the next ten seconds, I swear I'm throwing this controller into the TV!" she said, just as engulfed in the game as him.

"Hey, Martin! Come over and help us!" Greg shouted.

"Sorry, guys, but the game will have to wait. I'm done making the refreshments," Martin said, approaching the gamers with a tray of drinks. "Rosa! Are you coming?"

"Just give me another moment" Rosa responded from the girls' room.

"Wait" Greg gasped in realization. "That means Rosa will be in a swimsuit," he said, as his eyes sparkled and a goofy smile formed on his face.

"Hurry up, Rosa, or we might drown in the pool of Greg's drool" Hailey quipped, before Greg rushed to cover her mouth with his hand.

"Are you crazy? She might hear you" Greg scolded her.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting" Rosa said, as she came into the room with a swimsuit consisting of knee length black capris with a short light blue dress above it. Her appearance completely distracted Greg from Hailey.

"Hey, Rosa, why so modest?" Hailey used the opportunity to ask. "I bet some people here would like to see you in a bikini," she added, giving Greg a sideway glance, to which he promptly reacted by putting his hand over her mouth again.

"Okay, guys, it's time to get into the hot tub!" Martin exclaimed, calling the other over. Greg and Hailey rushed over to the hot tub and jumped in with a "Cannonball!", which sent splashes flying in every direction.

"I'd like to raise this glass of champagne, which is actually grape soda" Martin began, as him and Rosa climbed into the hot tub. "To Hailey. She is the main reason we're here and can enjoy this awesome hot tub"

"Oh, thanks!" Hailey said, "But none of that'd be possible without my great new friend - Truffles. I wish we could bring him here with us" she sighed.

"He's probably too busy making pork stew with Chef for our lunch tomorrow" Greg chuckled, before realizing that the other three teens were glaring at him.

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: Every friend of mine can tell you that I'm a jokester, but I feel like sometimes new people just don't really get my sense of humor.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Err, so, how about we drink to the greatest team ever - Team Green!" Greg changed the subject and held up his drink.

"Great idea!" Martin agreed and stood up to "We won, because all of us worked together and gave it our all. Here's to this season's final four!"

"Alright!" Hailey cheered and joined the boys.

"That would be nothing short of magical!" Rosa exclaimed, before all four clinked their glasses.

* * *

The next morning, both the winners and the losers were sleeping soundly in their assigned rooms, until the sounds of a school bell started blasting all over the school grounds, waking everyone up.

"Oh come on!" Vicki shouted, lifting her head off the pillow and looking at the clock on the wall. "It's only 7:30 in the morning!"

"Exactly!" Chris said over the intercom. "Which means the school day begins in exactly half an hour, so if you're planning to get anything to eat, before we get to business, I'd recommend you to move your butts to the cafeteria as soon as possible"

"Alright, I say we figure out the order in which we'll use the bathroom" Rachel suggested, as the girls climbed out of their beds. "And so that the process is fair, every day each one of us will move one place up in the line. Sounds good?"

"It does" Kim said with a smile. "And today I'm first!" she announced, before running into the washroom.

"No!" Molly yelled, as Kim shut the door behind her. "I gotta pee!"

"You really gotta get your bladder checked" Vicki said to the shorter girl. "But that girl is seriously rude"

"Don't worry - according to our order, her going first today means she'll be going last tomorrow." Rachel calmed the girls down, as she took out a notebook and began writing. "Anyway, today, I say Molly goes next, then Vicki, then Katya. I will write Rosa and Hailey's names after ours in the lineup. Did I forget anyone?"

"Um, yourself?" Molly asked.

"I woke up an hour ago, so there's no need," Rachel explained.

"Wow. Oh, you also forgot Piper" Vicki pointed out. "Where is she, by the way? Did she wake up before Chris's message, too?"

"I don't think she returned after going to the school building yesterday," Katya answered calmly.

"Oh no, what if something happened to her?" Molly said, freaking out.

"We should go find her!" Rachel said determinedly.

"I don't think there is a need to do that" Katya objected. "Chris wouldn't let her leave the school grounds, and if she's still here somewhere, she had to hear his announcement. We'll just meet her in the cafeteria"

"Good thinking" Rachel said, before heading to the exit, "I'll get going, then. Don't take too long, girls!"

* * *

Kyle and Drew were making their way to the school through the yard with the latter trying to start a conversation.

"Hey, Kai, isn't it great that there were only two of us in the boys' room when Chris made his announcement?" Drew asked the other boy in his neutral character.

"I... guess?" Kai answered confusedly. "I don't really understand what's so great about it."

"That's cuz you're a total noob!" the other boy mocked him, now switching to the wolf mask, and putting his arm on Kai's shoulder. "It means a way smaller line to the potty!"

Kai was clearly uncomfortable with the gesture, but continued talking regardless. "Well, Martin and Greg are staying upstairs and Luke is still in the nurse's office. I have no idea where the other three are, though."

"I don't care where they are!" La said dismissively. "But I hope they stay there, cuz dropping a deuce without anyone telling you to hurry up is the most awesome s*** ever, man! My s**** were sliding down that toilet in perfect rhythm - I could even make a sick beat out of their harmonies!"

"This is so vulgar!" Lu said, embarrassed. "At least use the term "poo-poo"!"

All Kai could do was shake his head at their conversation.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: You know, this year, producers made a huge deal out of making sure we were all mentally stable in order to avoid controversy, as they put it. If that's what that Drew guy's sane mode looks like, I hope we can get him out before Chris reveals that this school actually only exists in virtual reality or something.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Chef was stirring up a brown bubbling stew, as it boiled on the stove, when a small yellow bird sat on the kitchen window next to it and started chirping. Soon the smell of the stew reached the bird and it stopped chirping and lost consciousness, falling into the pot. Chef then turned off the stove and took the pot to the counter in the cafeteria. As Kim approached him with a bowl, he dropped a huge spoon of the stew into it, some of it splashing on her clothes. A look of disgust grew on her face, as she looked into the stew. "Ugh, soup for breakfast?"

Molly, who was standing next to her, meekly asked "Um, Chef, can I maybe get something else?"

Chef glared at her, before stepping away for a minute and coming back with a metal can, opening and dropping its contents into that looked a lot like spam into her bowl, after which the girls just awkwardly walked away.

As they approached the tables, they saw that five students were already seated at the table to the right - Rachel, Jesse, Damien on the left side and Nate and Piper on the right side. The table to the left was empty and it had way fewer seats.

"Why are none of you sitting there?" Kim asked, pointing to the table next to the entrance.

"Chef told us to sit here for some reason," Piper answered.

"Where were you, by the way?" the fashionista, as she sat next to Nate.

"Um... I was so tired of going around the school that I fell asleep on the couch in the library," Piper explained after a moment of hesitation.

"We were both completely exhausted after our game," Nate added obliviously.

"Your game?" Kim asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah. To be honest, Piper has great stamina. Most people I've tried it with couldn't go on after the first round," he kept explaining, as Piper buried her hands farther into her hands.

"Wow. Say no more" Kim commented with a smirk.

"Molly, I saved up a seat for you" Damien called the girl over, while patting the seat to his right.

"It's fine," Molly said with a smile, sitting near Piper, Nate and Kim. "I'm okay sitting here, really"

"Molly" he responded with a glare. "Sit here"

"Uh, now that I think about it, it's not a good thing to sit with my back turned to the person who made our food" she said awkwardly, before changing her seat.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kim: A girl doing anything a guy tells her to do is a pathetic sight. That being said, sheep are there to be herded *shrugs*

Molly: Yesterday, I thought Damien was just being mean, but now I understand that he's trying to encourage me - it's tough love! And, boy, is his toughness lovely... *sighs dreamily, before snapping out of it* Um, I mean, he's just being a good teammate.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"I didn't get around to asking you, but why were you two up so early?" Rachel asked Damien and Jesse.

"I run every morning back home, so I just do the same thing here" Jesse explained. "I woke my new buddy up, too, cuz I figured he'd love to join" he said, putting his arm on Damien's shoulder.

Damien made a face for a second before forcing a smile and saying "You figured right - I enjoyed it immensely!", which made Nate raise his eyebrow.

Just then, Vicki, Kai, Drew and Katya came up to the table and took the remaining seats.

"How'd you get your hands on that?" Jesse asked Molly, pointing to the meat-like dish on her plate.

"I asked Chef to get me something else and he did" she stated, "which was kind of unexpected. I'm not really enjoying it, though," she added, twiddling her fork around the plate.

"Let's switch - just give that meaty thing to me, I need more protein." Jesse offered, and they switched around. Molly tasted the stew and shrugged - "better".

"Can anything really be worse than this?" Vicki asked rhetorically, as she moved the meat in the stew around. When she finally scooped up some of it, a bird without a single feather suddenly flew out of her spoon and quickly flew out of the cafeteria. The girl just stared at her bowl in disbelief.

"Whatever appetite I had is now officially gone" Kai said, moving his breakfast away. Just then, someone walked into the cafeteria with a casual "Hi guys". The students turned around to see Luke approach their table with his sleeves rolled up and his arms still covered in bandages.

"Luke! Is it really okay for you to walk around?" Rachel stood up to help him to the only empty seat left next to Kai.

"Yeah, those fish messed you up real good!" Jesse said with a chuckle.

"Heh, you're one to talk, sinker" La commented.

"You little!" Jesse shouted, trying to reach Drew who was sitting three seats away.

"Don't worry, Chef gave me some vaccine and it worked really well. I'm still a little woozy and have to keep wearing bandages on my arms and legs, but I'm mostly fine," Luke said with a small smile. "Oh, right, I didn't get my breakfast"

"Just take mine," Kai said, moving his bowl in Luke's direction. "I don't feel like getting food poisoning today anyway"

"Good morning, guys!" they heard Martin say, as him and the other three Team Green members walked in.

"Lemme tell ya, those beds in the Deluxe Suite are awesome!" Hailey boasted, which prompted more than a few glares from those seated, before the foursome proceeded to sit at the empty table.

"Do they get their own table now?" Vicki asked.

"Chris came to the Suite this morning and told us to sit at the empty table and just wait," Greg explained.

"So, they get that huge table all to themselves, while I have to share mine with a dozen people?" Kim asked furiously and threw her arms up, which ended up hitting Nate in the face.

Suddenly, the kitchen door burst open and out came Chef in a black and white waiter uniform pushing a serving trolley with a cloth hanging on one of his arms. When he got close enough to Team Green's table, he draped the fabric, which turned out to be a red and white tablecloth over the table and set several dishes on it. He then pulled out a vase with flowers and set it in the center of the table. Chef proceeded to take the covers off the dishes and under them were all types of breakfast imaginable - omelet, bacon, sausages, porridge, pancakes, pastry, fruit and more.

"Bacon!" Greg and Hailey screamed in unison, reaching to the plate with the porky goodness and stuffing their mouths with it, before contently leaning back in their seats and saying a calm "Perfect", their words muffled from food in their mouths.

"The way the bright fruit filling glistens in the light surrounded by the intricate lace of flaky sought fills my heart with tranquility" Rosa said, breaking one of the pastries in half.

"This is the most delicious coffee I've ever had, and I drink a lot of coffee!" Martin said, after tasting the drink Chef began to pour into the teens' cups.

"Seriously? All this for winning thanks to a rabid pig?" Kim demanded, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe you should stop whining and try winning for yourself next time, last placer" Hailey said, shooting up from her seat and emphasizing the last part of the sentence.

Instead of coming up with a comeback, Kim threw her bowl at the athletic girl, who saw it in time to dodge, and the bowl with the hot stew ended up hitting Chef, who was pouring coffee into Hailey's cup. Despite the hot liquid pouring down his face, he didn't flinch and maintained his poker face.

"Students!" Chris exclaimed over the intercom. "Report to the schoolyard to meet with your principal in ten minutes!"

The students did as they were told and all sixteen of them were standing in the schoolyard, which has now been completely cleaned of the mud and grease left after the first challenge. For the first time, the teens noticed how huge the schoolyard was. They couldn't see where its territory came to an end from where they were standing, and though the part of it right in front of them resembled a park, the farther they looked, the more it transformed into a forest.

"Alright, now that you're all here, it's time to begin our second challenge!" Chris announced cheerfully. "But before we do that, we'll have to split you up into teams"

"Um, we already are in teams" Martin pointed out, as the teens stood in four small clusters.

"Yeah, that four by four thing was only for the first challenge" Chris explained. "I mean if we kept it until the merge, half the eliminations would come down to tiebreakers, which is not dramatic at all"

"Are you gonna put us to sleep again?" Vicki asked with a glare.

"No need, because we're splitting you up by the oldest dynamic in the book - the Battle of the Sexes!" Chris announced.

* * *

[Confessional]

Jesse: Alright! Us dudes have got this in the bag - chicks can never get along and they stink at physical stuff, so we're golden.

Katya: Boys vs girls? That reminds me of the one time me and the other girls from the ballet school challenges the boys in our neighborhood to a hockey match. They said that girls could never beat them and that they'll send us crying back to our mommas. They were wrong. As payback, I made their leader perform a ballet routine in a pink tutu. In front of the whole town. He hasn't left his house since. *smiles*

[End Confessional]

* * *

After the teens regrouped - the girls to the left and the boys to the right - Chris continued, "Today's challenge is a school classic - a simple friendly game of Capture the Flag! And if this game's rules are basic enough for kids who can't place their home country on a map, you shouldn't struggle too much." he said mockingly.

"Each team will be given a map to their home base located somewhere in the wooded area of the schoolyard. Their team's flag is already there - red for the girls, blue for the boys - and all they have to do to win is have both flags within the boundaries of their home base." As Chris said that, the colorful flags were shown waving on the flagpoles in the respective bases. "If you're on enemy ground, you can be arrested and brought to jail, if one of the opposing team members tags you. Be careful - if all members of a team end up in jail, the other team automatically wins the challenge." The cameras showed designated jails - large wooden cages with a single entrance.

"All clear?" Chris asked the contestants, to which they collectively nodded. "Now, it's time to clear up one last thing - the rewards and punishments for the last challenge!"

"You mean, the expensive suite and the gourmet meal wasn't the reward?" Martin asked.

"Nope! That's just the standard winners' package. Your reward for winning the last challenge is invincibility! That's right - no matter who wins today, you cannot vote for Martin, Greg, Hailey or Rosa in tonight's elimination ceremony," the host announced, as students looked at him in surprise.

"Sweet!" Hailey cheered, as her and Rosa exchanged smiles.

"And when it comes to former Team Blue, if your team loses this challenge, you will automatically get an additional vote against you. Fun, isn't it?"

"Ugh, this is so not fair!" Kim complained.

"It isn't," Kai added dryly, "to the three of us who actually tried"

"You've got half an hour to get to your home base and any extra preparations, like, for example, hiding the flag," the host continued. "After thirty minutes pass, you can start attacking enemy turf. Now, go!" the boys and girls split off and began following the map.

* * *

[Confessional]

Luke: I'm a little worried about Chris's penalty. My body is still not completely recovered from yesterday, so I won't be able to help with chasing the other team. I just hope my teammates won't think I'm useless.

[End Confessional]

* * *

The eight girls reached a small clearing in the middle of the woods with a kids' playground set there - swings, slides, seesaws, even a giant inflatable castle with colorful balls. The entire area was outlined in red chalk.

"That seems a bit out of place in high school," Piper said with a puzzled look.

"According to the map, this is where our base is supposed to be" Molly remarked, looking at the piece of paper given to them by the host. "See any flags?"

"Over there, by the castle!" Hailey pointed, before running over to a flagpole with a red banner and taking it down. "Now where do we hide this sucker?"

"Hmm, there's a lot of stuff here" Rachel said, looking around the playground. "We could hide it in one of those small houses that connect the slides!" she said, pointing at the wooden pathways between different slides.

"How about the underside of the swings?" Vicki suggested.

"Ladies, wait, I have a plan," Katya announced sternly, which caught everyone's attention. "Does our map show the boys' base?"

"Well, yeah" Molly said unsurely.

"Chris said we can only attack them once the half hour is over, but we can still get a head start if we get close to their base," the ballerina explained. "So, let's leave hiding the flag to a few of us and the rest will go to their base and try to catch them by surprise right when the challenge begins"

"Great plan!" Piper exclaimed. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces, when we leap out at them!"

"Good thinking, Katya" Rachel praised her teammate. "I think Vicki and I should stay, since we already started discussing the hiding spots" she suggested, to which the songstress nodded.

"On second thought, maybe, I should stay behind, too" Piper meekly interjected.

"Huh, but you were all about making the guys wet their pants just a second ago" Vicki pointed out.

"I, uh, just remembered that I'm a horrible runner"

"Well, you three should be able to find a good hiding spot" Katya said, "Everyone else, let's go. Molly, show the way".

* * *

[Confessional]

Vicki: For a second there I thought that Piper only stayed behind, because I did. Heh, getting recognition from fans can sure get to your head!

Piper: I'm pretty shy, so I tend to cling to people I know. Vicki and I were on the same team last time, and, she's my idol, so being with her is helping me calm down. I just hope she isn't noticing"

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Why not just throw it into the water, so they have to dive to get it?" Jesse suggested, as the boys stood near a pond in the middle of the woods.

"A light piece of fabric isn't gonna drown" Drew stated as La. "Don't they teach you stuff like this in school, kiddo?"

"Whatever, man, the flag is blue anyway. It will mesh with the water," the athlete argued.

"They aren't blind, they'll see that the shades are completely different" Nate chimed in.

"Maybe there are some tree hollows around here? We could put a flag into one of them," Martin said.

"I think..." Luke was about to say, before he was cut off by Damien.

"Are we allowed to bury the flag?"

"Maybe we could..." Luke tried to start again.

"What if we put it into our jail? They wouldn't look there," Greg added.

"Actually..."

"How about a simple friendly truce with the girls?" Lu asked simplemindedly, to which the ginger just sighed in desperation.

"Yes, Luke? If you have something to say, don't be shy" Martin said with a smile, putting his hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Um, are we sure we even have to hide the flag?"

"Seriously, you were stuttering this whole time to say this?" Jesse asked, rolling his eyes.

"What I mean is that instead of hiding the flag, we can leave it here and instead set some traps around it. That way we can capture the attackers and lock them in jail," Luke explained.

"We can therefore decrease the number of our opponents when we attack their base," Kai concluded. "That's actually a pretty good idea"

"It's an awesome idea!" Martin said. "Great job, Luke! Sure, we won't be able to make complex traps, but even a few simple ones will do the trick. Time to get to work, guys!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the three girls left at the base were still unsure of where to hide their flag.

"Man, this is way more difficult than I thought" Vicki complained. "None of these things are red!" she said, overlooking the playground equipment that was abundant in yellows, greens, oranges and blues, but had a notable absence of red.

"That's probably to make the game harder" Piper remarked, while putting the flag against one of the swings, only to see that the swing's pinkish shade made the flag noticeable.

"Don't give up, ladies - something here must help us" Rachel reasoned calmly. "Try to think outside the box"

"The castle!" Vicki shouted out after a brief silence and ran over to the inflatable attraction filled with multicolored balls. "Some of these balls are red! Maybe we can tie the flag around one of them". After these words, she started climbing up the "castle walls".

"Good thinking!" Rachel praised her teammate. "Just be careful up there!"

"Don't worry, this will only take a moment" Vicki assured her, now on top of one of the inflatable towers. She then made her jump into the sea of colorful balls.

The jump, however, did not go as planned. The castle's surface was effectively a trampoline that launched Vicki back into the air before she could get a hold of a red ball. This happened a few more times, as the other two girls could only trace Vicki's movement with their eyes. Finally, the singer hit the floor of the castle so hard that the impact launched Vicki out if it and onto the ground near her teammates.

"Got it!" she cheered, holding up a red ball.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Piper asked with a concerned look on her face, while Rachel took the ball from Vicki's hands and started wrapping the flag around it.

"That was nothing, pal. At one of my concerts, I got tangled in the mic cable and fell off the stage! I was only in a cast for, like, three weeks" the singer mused. "Anyway, can I throw the ball back?" she asked, before taking the ball from Rachel and tossing it back into the castle.

"Nice work, Vicki!" Rachel said, before high fiving her teammate, before they both stepped away, leaving Piper who kept staring into nothingness.

"Did she just call me "pal"?" she uttered incredulously.

* * *

[Confessional]

Piper: *squeals* I can't believe that I get to be friends with my musical icon! Before that my only official friend was a bot I programmed to ask me how my day went every time I came back from school.

[End Confessional]

* * *

At the boys' base, everyone was caught up with setting up traps.

"Great job finding all these tools, Nate!" Martin said holding up a rope, as him and the taller boy were setting up a snare.

"I stumbled upon the warehouse yesterday by accident, so it's not much of an achievement. I guess that's where Chris gets all his equipment for the challenges"

"Guys, we're done with the pit on the other side of the pond," Greg announced, as him and Drew walked up with shovels in their hands. "We covered them with dirt and leaves, so there's no way girls will notice. Some of these traps are big enough to trap a grizzly!"

"Why did setting up these traps feel just a little wrong?" Lu asked aloofly.

"Did you guys mark their spots on the map?" Martin asked. "We don't wanna fall into our own traps".

"Yup, all done" Greg assured him.

"Great, we marked ours as well. We brought a notebook from the warehouse, so all we gotta do is find someone who can make a decent drawing of the area and put all the spots on it. And then do it seven more times" Martin explained.

"I can draw" Drew said in his own character, which surprised the other guys.

"Five more minutes until the real fun begins!" Chris announced over the intercom.

"Hey, guys!" Martin shouted to the other four boys on the other side of the pond. "Are you almost done there? We gotta hide soon!"

"Almost there, dude!" Jesse yelled back. "Ugh, this knot isn't tight enough. I've already done it twice!" he then complained to the other boys. "A little help here, bro?" he asked, turning to Damien.

"Sorry, buddy, but I can't do it either. The only thing I can tie is a tie. Heh, pardon the redundancy" Damien said lazily, while reading a book in the shade of a tree nearby.

"Let me see" Luke said, walking up to Jesse and started messing with the knot. "There you go - it should hold now"

"Whoa, nice work, dude. Where'd you learn that?" the athlete asked enthusiastically.

"I was taught that in the summer ca..." Luke began, before he noticed Kai walking up to them as well. "Uh, I mean, my dad taught me, in the summer, when we went... hunting"

"What were you hunting?" Jesse asked.

"Um, err, s-skunks!" the other boy said in an unsure manner.

"You ate skunk?" Kai asked, visibly disgusted.

"It's, uhh, a local delicacy. I'm from a small town"

"Guys! Get over here!" Martin called them once again. "We gotta hide!"

"Let' s hurry up then!" Luke quickly said, hurrying the other boys along.

* * *

Katya, Molly, Kim, Hailey and Rosa were all making their way through the woods, before Molly stopped and pointed in front of her.

"That pond. That's their base," she said calmly.

Suddenly Chris's voice filled the area, as he announced "And let the challenge begin!"

"Chalk" Kim pointed at the blue line a few steps away from them. "Just like near our base, so it doesn't take a genius to see that theirs is here"

"We need to take a closer look," Katya pointed out. "There are a few shrubs over that line. Let's try and get there one by one"

She then kneeled and quickly made her way to the bushes, with the other girl following shortly.

"Wait, isn't that the flag? It's right there!" Hailey said excitedly, as they were all crouching behind the bush. "This will be way easier than I thought!"

"But doesn't this appear too simplistic?" Rosa asked. "It is almost as if they are luring us"

"This has to be a trick," Katya reasoned. "Perhaps, they're trying to ambush us"

"Even if they are, what can we do?" Kim asked. "The flag is surrounded by open space, so there's nowhere to hide"

"In that case," Hailey said in a determined fashion, "Surprise attack!" After yelling this out, she started sprinting to the flagpole.

"Hailey, halt!" Rosa shouted and ran after her.

"Wait, don't!" Molly yelled after Rosa, but she was already up and running.

Suddenly, when Rosa stepped on a bunch of leaves, a trap activated and she was holstered up into the air in a net.

"What the heck?" Hailey said, looking at her friend and involuntarily took a step back, which sent her falling into a pit. "Man!" she complained from below.

"This place is full of traps!" Molly yelled in panic.

"That's right!" Martin said, as him and the other guys came out of their hiding spots and looked at the three girls in the bushes. Suddenly, Jesse threw an impromptu lasso at the bush, which managed to take a hold of Kim's wrist. He then swiftly pulled her out of the bushes.

"Nice catch, partner" he said in an obviously fake cowboy accent.

"Ugh, seriously?" Kim whined, rolling her eyes.

"Run!" Katya shouted before dragging Molly by the hand. Due to being pretty close to the border of the boys' base, they managed to escape, before the boys got to them.

"Man, wish we could rope those two up, too" La said disappointedly, after another throw by Jesse failed to reach the girls.

"It's fine" Martin said. "Our trap system is unbeatable, so it doesn't matter how many times they try. Now, let's take them to jail". After that, they boys started lowering Rosa down.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kim: How dare this freak do this to me? *points to her red wrist* This wrist has modeled watches that are more expensive than everything he owns!

[End Confessional]

* * *

The three captured girls were led into a wooden cage with nothing, but a small bench inside it. After all three of them were inside, Jesse closed the door and locked it with a key.

"Um, guys? Are you sure you can't just handcuff us to a tree branch or something? This cage is pretty small" Hailey said nervously, as her eyes moved rapidly.

"What are you talking about? We could fit ten more people there!" Greg asked in confusion.

"Guys, I'm serious - I don't do well in confined spaces!" she said, panicking even more.

"If I may ask, how does that manifest itself?" Rosa asked her teammate with a worried look on her face.

Suddenly, Hailey ran forward and jump onto the cage, reaching her hands out to grab one of the boys.

"Give me that key! You can't keep me in here forever! I need my freedom!" she started screaming frantically, before calming down and smiling ominously. "Oh, I see. You're trying to break my spirit. Trying to get me to talk. Well, no dice, boys! These lips are sealed! You can torture me however you like, but I'm pleading the fifth, you little sh**s!

"Hailey, calm yourself, please" Rosa said with concern.

"Yeah, someone will need to monitor these three" Martin said to the other boys. "Volunteers?"

"I'll do it. Compared to how my band's bass player Eric is at parties, this is nothing," he said, pointing at Hailey.

"I'll stay, too," Luke said. "I can't really run, so I'd get captured by the enemy, anyway"

"What about the two that ran away?" Kai asked. "We can't just let them go"

"They should still be nearby" Martin said calmly. "There's no point for them to run back to the base, so, Jesse, how about you try to hunt them down?"

"Sure thing, captain"

"There are two of them, so someone should help you. Who wants to do it?" Martin asked, which was followed by a few moments of silence.

"Well, jeez, I wanted to run around like a headless chicken trying to find that flag so much, but I guess I have no choice, but to stay here" Nate said sarcastically, starting to walk over to Jesse.

"No worries, I'll help our friend in his hunt" Damien said with an assuring smile, while sticking his hand in front of Nate.

"Well, then that's settled" Martin announced with a smile, "Kai, Drew, Nate - us four will go there and get that flag! Let's get moving!"

"Great" Nate muttered, rolling his eyes, as he followed Martin and the rest.

"Yeah, that's right, run away, you cowards! You aren't worth the piece of gum I scraped off my boot!" Hailey yelled, as the boys split off.

"Ugh, please, tell me you guys have some duct tape or something" Kim said, while sitting on a bench and covering her ears.

* * *

[Confessional]

Hailey: So, I might be a tad claustrophobic. Normally, my reaction to fear is to face it head on, pumped by adrenaline, but I couldn't reach the boys to pummel to the ground, so I guess my fear showed itself through words.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"And that was the last time I drank non-pasteurized milk before getting on stage" Vicki concluded her story, as Piper and her sat on the swings. "My manager was so angry - apparently, everyone in the first row wanted a refund"

"Nope, still no one" Rachel mused, as she approached the other two girls. "I bet our girls are keeping them too busy to even leave their base"

"Yeah, something tells me we aren't getting guests anytime soon," Vicki said confidently. "Rachel, are you not bored of constantly checking? Piper and I could take over"

"No-no, its fine. Back at the factory, half of my time is just checking if the process is going smoothly"

"Sit here with us for a while, Vicki is telling really awesome stories from her concerts" Piper invited the blonde.

"Well, actually, I was hoping you'd tell us a story" Vicki said to Piper with a grin. "Like, what were you doing in the school at night? Did anything interesting happen?"

"Well, there were only a couple of books on computers in the library, so it wasn't all that interesting"

"That's not what I mean. I want to know about you and the lanky guy. What was his name again?" Vicki asked.

"Do you mean Nate?" Piper asked meekly. "Because it wasn't anything special"

"Oh, come on, I want more details!" Vicki complained.

"I'm normally not one to gossip, but I am pretty interested, too," Rachel admitted, as both of them moved closer to Piper.

"Well, uh, he really surprised me! He actually managed to beat me in Castleroamers! Sure, it took five rounds ending in a draw, but still!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Um, what's Castleroamers?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"It's the most popular board game of the last decade! It received five BoardGeek awards last year!" the hacker said matter-of-factly. "Don't tell me you haven't heard of it"

"The last time I played a board game was in middle school," Vicki stated dryly.

"Do checkers count?" Rachel asked.

"Um, so I guess we fell asleep, playing the game" Piper said.

"Wait, did you fall asleep first or did he?" Vicki asked suddenly.

"I think it was me"

"Girl, no way!" Vicki jumped up in panic. "You gotta be more careful around him! They say that geeks are the biggest pervs! Uh, no offense"

"Oh, come on, he doesn't seem like someone who'd do that" Piper tried to calm the other girl down.

"Hm, I'll trust your judgment on that, but if he ever tries anything, don't hesitate to ask me to break his spine. I've had some creepy stalkers of my own, you know"

* * *

[Confessional]

Vicki: Piper's been really awesome to me so far, so I want to make sure she's okay. Plus, she's my fan, and if you're messing with Essentia Squad, you're messing with Essentia herself!

[End Confessional]

* * *

Meanwhile, near the boys' base, Katya was struggling to pull Molly up to one of the higher branches of one of the trees.

"Try to pull your weight more," the ballerina commanded, helping the heavier girl climb.

"I don't even understand what that means" Molly said in pain, before she finally managed to get onto the branch. "Sorry, I've been skipping P.E. since P.E. became a subject"

"It shows" Katya remarked. "Bad news - it seems we'll have to go even higher - I can't get a good look from here"

"Wait, I have something that can help" Molly said and started to feel around in her pockets, before pulling something it. "Ah, here it is! My surveillance drone!"

In Molly's hands was a small grayish robot with a propeller and a tiny camera. The camera's lens was visibly moving.

"What is this? It looks like a children's toy" Katya remarked unenthusiastically.

"Wait, I should have its controller here somewhere" Molly said, pushing the tiny robot into Katya's hands and searching in her pockets, until she pulled out what looked like a joystick with a small screen positioned above the buttons. "And start!"

After the teen pushed one of the buttons, the small machine came to life and started its flight with the help of a spinning propeller.

"Karlsson?" Katya mumbled in awe, before snapping out of it, "Are you sure this robot works properly?"

"I invented it, so there's no way it can be faulty!" Molly said cockily. "Look, it's filming their base at just the right pace and I set its function to taking photos, so we can analyze them, when it gets back!"

"Wow, good job" Katya praised her, genuinely impressed.

Suddenly, the robot's propeller started spinning faster and the machine started rapidly gaining speed, while frantically going up and down in the air.

"Aren't the pictures going to be blurry this way?" Katya asked, before noticing Molly's panicked expression right behind her.

"No, no, no! Slow down!" the science enthusiast begged, as she repeatedly pushed the same button on her device. "It must because it's an older model"

The robot started shaking, before it collapsed onto the ground below, strangely remaining intact.

"Well, so much for using technology. At least it didn't fly far enough for the guys to notice it" Katya said, before the robot started making loud siren-like noises. "What is happening?"

"It's a signal it makes when one of its vital mechanisms has been damaged. Poor thing" Molly said with regret.

"Can you turn it off?" Katya yelled over the sound of sirens.

"I don't really remember how - I assembled this thing ages ago. Don't worry, I'll think of something" Molly assured her teammate, and started pushing buttons.

Meanwhile, Jesse and Damien were walking near the boundaries of their base, the former with his trusty rope in hand.

"So, that's when my buddy Josh decided to sneak out at night and use the flamethrower we found to spell "I love you, Cass" in the cornfield. Josh is so mushy with that romance stuff," Jesse kept telling his story.

"Uh-huh" Damien said, looking around.

"But then in the morning, when we climbed the watchtower with her, we saw that the dude totally forgot to burn out a "C"! She decided to stay friends for some reason," he said with a puzzled look on his face. "Chicks are weird like that, man"

"Uh-huh" Damien repeated himself, before they heard the sound of sirens coming from somewhere near.

"What the heck is that? Quick, let's check it out!" Jesse said before sprinting toward the source of the noise, his new friend following at a far more leisurely pace.

* * *

[Confessional]

Damien: Thank goodness. I almost considered paying him to shut up.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"It's gotta be one of those two buttons" Molly said, hovering her finger above two similar looking red bottoms on the controller.

"Forget about that. Let's run, before someone gets here" Katya ordered, herself already halfway down the tree trunk.

"No, it's this one! I am 100% sure!" Molly exclaimed and pushed one of the two buttons. The alarm stopped ringing for a moment, before the robot exploded with a loud bang. After the smoke cleared, the girls saw that the remaining parts of the machine were now on fire. Seeing this, Katya shot a glare at Molly.

"Or maybe that was a self-destruct button" the tech nerd said with a sheepish grin. Just then, Katya felt something tugging on her ankle and looked down to see that it was a rope. She was then swiftly and forcefully pulled to the ground.

"What have we here?" Jesse asked, looking down on her.

"Oh no! What do I do? What do I do?" Molly panicked, before the branch beneath her suddenly broke, which sent her falling to the ground.

"Run to the home base!" Katya yelled at her, as she was still lying on the ground.

"Yes, sir!" the geek replied in a militaristic manner, before standing up and starting to run, screaming and waving her hands in the air. Her sprint, however, was cut short, when Damien who stood in the direction she was running in simply tripped her with his leg, to which Katya just sighed.

* * *

"I'll go get some water," Greg said to Luke, while handing him over the key to the cell. "Keep an eye on them"

"Okay" Luke said curtly, still sitting on the ground.

"Oh my, the utter powerlessness I feel imprisoned here. I sure hope Katya and Molly have already concocted a plan to help us escape," Rosa said with a sigh, stirring on a bench next to Kim.

"Fat chance of that" Kim said skeptically. "There's no way they can get through these traps."

"But we cannot simply admit defeat, can we? And besides, it seems like Hailey's condition is getting more desperate"

"I need my freedom!" Hailey wailed, as she try to claw her way through the wooden bars.

"You two are completely useless," Kim complained, before standing up. "Fine, it looks like I'll have to do everything by myself. Watch and learn, Juliet!"

"Hey, Luuuuke!" the fashionista cooed.

"Yes?" he answered, slowly approaching the cage.

"Don't you think it's just super cruel to lock us in this cage? We were just playing the game, after all" she spoke to him softly. "I mean, look at Hannah!"

"Hailey" Rosa reminded her from the bench.

"Look at Hailey" she corrected herself without a second though and pointed to her teammate, who was trying to bite through the bars. "If you let us out, we promise we won't run away"

Luke gave Hailey a compassionate look, before going back to Kim. "I feel sorry for her, but the rules state that we should keep you here, if you were caught"

"Pretty sure they don't say you have to" she said in a more flirtatious manner.

"But there's no way to guarantee that you're not lyi..."

Before Luke was able to finish his sentence, Greg ran up to the cage with a bucket of water.

"Be gone, devil woman!" he shouted, before throwing water on Kim's face, which made her make-up run.

"Ugh, what the hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed. "You'll pay for this, you fat orc!"

"Don't let them fool you, dude. You totally almost fell for her wicked charms!" Greg said, taking Luke by the shoulders and ignoring Kim's tirade.

"Wicked charms?" Luke asked in confusion. "I wouldn't actually let them go, I just felt bad for Hailey"

"So that's how they tried to manipulate you! Anyway, give me the key back - I am not moving away from this cage until the challenge is over"

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: Some might say dowsing her with water was overkill, but that girl Kim is so unpleasant, so don't you think she kinda has it coming?

Kim: That fat slob can *beep* in his *beep* and choke on *beep* for doing this *beep* to me! Seriously, *beep*!

[End Confessional]

* * *

Outside the girls' base, the boys started planning their attack, while ducking behind one of the bushes.

"It looks like they're just sitting on the swings and talking to each other," Drew said, while squinting his eyes under the mask.

"This might be our chance to perform a sneak attack," Martin said enthusiastically.

"Perhaps they're guarding the swings? It could be that the flag is attached to the seats," Kai suggested.

"Then, we'll have to check them first" Martin said determinedly, before looking around. "Where's Nate?"

Just then, the skinny teen ran up to the rest and collapsed, breathing heavily.

"You have the body of an eighty year-old," La said, looking down on him. "You're breathing like your lung is about to come out of your nose"

"Oh, it's no biggie. You should just exercise more and maintain a balanced diet - then, you'll be running marathons in no time!" Lu encouraged the teen, unlike his counterpart.

"Thanks for the useful tips" Nate said sarcastically between his heavy breaths.

"Focus, guys" Martin interjected. "We need to try and do this as quickly as possible. Let's all come in from different sides to confuse them. Then, when you see me move in, begin the attack"

"And by an attack you mean running and searching for a flag without any clues, while trying not to get caught?" Kai asked.

"Exactly. I know the plan isn't the most detailed, but there are more of us than them, so even if all three of them chase us, one of us should still be able to search for the flag"

"Alright, then Nate should stay here - we don't want him to fall again and get the girls' attention" La said mockingly. "Us three can cover the other sides"

"Alright, let's do this!" Martin exclaimed, before him, Kai and Drew started going in different directions.

* * *

[Confessional]

Martin: We need to try to get along better, if we want to be the stronger team. I agree that Nate isn't the strongest player, but as teammates we have to support one another.

Nate: Exercising is a waste of time. People never actually enjoy doing it and are only building up muscle to appeal to others. Thankfully, I don't give a crap about any of that.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Finally, all boys took their places, and just then, Martin suddenly started sprinting into enemy territory, which prompted the other three to follow. It didn't take long for the girls to notice the attack.

"Oh no! I forgot to keep checking the area around our base!" Rachel said, momentarily panicking as the boys closed in.

"We need to make sure they don't get the flag!" Vicki ordered, before looking at Piper and motioning to the inflatable castle with her eyes, to which the shorter girl nodded.

Soon after, Rachel and Vicki gave chase to the two boys closest to them, which happened to be Martin and Drew. The guys quickly changed direction in an attempt to lead the girls away from the playground. Meanwhile, Kai and Nate reached the swings and started inspecting them.

"Any luck?" Nate asked, as he looked under one of the seats.

"No, not yet" Kai said, focused on the task at hand. "There's nothing here. The hanging bars over there aren't red either, so I don't think they hid it there..."

When Kai was about to say something else, Piper suddenly lunged towards the boys and started chasing him, though with significantly more caution than the other two girls.

"Check the seesaw" Kai yelled out, and Nate did as was told, but once again failed to find anything resembling a red flag.

"It's not here either. What other places are there?" he asked desperately.

Kai quickly made his way to the sandbox and saw that Piper was no longer following him and went back to where she stood. Seeing this as an opportunity, he called Nate over.

"Come on, we have to see if the flag is here" Kai told the other boy.

"Don't you think she'd try to chase us out of here, if that were the case?" Nate asked, reluctantly searching through the sand.

"It might be a trick" the other boy presumed.

Martin was quickly going up a climbing wall not too far away with Vicki climbing up after him.

"You're just wasting our time, buddy, that wall isn't endless" Vicki said, in between heavy breathing.

"Try to catch up, then" Martin teased, as the distance between them increased, due to his superior climbing skills.

Drew was, meanwhile, chased by Rachel, as he climbed the ladder to one of the small house-like structures on the playground. To his surprise and relief, she didn't climb after him.

"Phew, finally a break" he said. "There's no flag here, though". He then noticed that the only other way out was a slide, which he quickly slid down. But as he was going down, he saw that Rachel was standing right at the slide's end.

"No-no-no!" he yelled, as he was trying to climb back up the slide with little success. He eventually slid all the way down only for Rachel to tag him.

"One down!" she shouted to the other girls. "I gotta take him to prison!"

* * *

[Confessional]

Rachel: I'm glad I managed to get Drew. If we lose, I'm automatically on the chopping block because of that extra vote, so I have to prove that I'm an asset to the team. Or, at least, more of an asset than Kim. And, not to be mean, but how hard can that be?

[End Confessional]

* * *

"There goes our advantage in numbers" Kai remarked, as him and Nate were still in the sandbox.

"Quick, retreat!" Martin yelled and jumped off the wall, taking advantage of the distraction. Kai and Nate quickly followed, and all three made it out of the girls' base, narrowly avoiding getting caught.

"Well, now what?" Nate asked, as he rolled up his trousers, prompting sand to seep out of them and form a small pile near his feet.

Jesse and Damien were standing next to the boys' flag, the former attempting small talk as per usual.

"Why do we gotta guard this thing, when we know the other girls can't get through our traps anyway?" Jesse asked in frustration. "This is so boring, just like the time my bro Jared thought going fishing was a good idea"

"Uh-huh" Damien said, while reading a book.

"Actually I've been talking a lot today, huh?" the other boy asked.

"That you have" Damien agreed.

"What about you? Ever had your bros do something totally stupid?"

"Hmmm..." Damien put down his book and thought for a second. "There was this one time when our family friend's son Xavier had the audacity of giving me a video game that I've already preordered on my seventh birthday"

"Ooh, it happens, dude" Jesse said understandingly. "So, what'd you do? Gave him the good ol' knuckle sandwich?"

"No, nothing so vile" Damien said. "I just convinced dad to withdraw his sponsorship of the company his dad owned. So they went bankrupt"

The boy then went back to reading.

"Huh, I guess that's one way" Jesse said wide eyed.

Meanwhile, Greg and Luke were still keeping an eye on the five girls in the cell.

"We can't just sit here and wait, the other girls don't know that we're stuck here," Katya urged the girls, sitting in the cell with her.

"Yes, but how? We'd need a key," Molly stated.

"It looks like Greg has it, so we have to get it from him," Katya reasoned.

"Good luck, sweetie" Kim remarked sarcastically, as she turned to the other girls for the first time since the incident with water. "I've already tried my secret weapon and it led to this!", she said pointing to her face. "You don't stand a chance"

"Well, you don't look that bad" Molly tried to calm her down unconvincingly. "You look, uh, well, Katya, what's the word?"

"Like someone drew on your face while you were sleeping," Katya said truthfully.

"Ugh, f*** you, guys" Kim cursed, before turning away again.

"And besides, I don't mean talking the boys into giving us the key" Katya continued. "That will never work. We just need a distraction, so that we can quickly steal the key and the map from Greg and break out"

"But he only has one map" Molly interjected.

"Then only one of us will run to get the flag and get it to our home base. Everyone else will just run wild to distract them." Katya explained. "Hailey is the fastest of us, but..."

The camera then showed Hailey sitting in a fetal position and making markings on the bars of the cell.

"I guess I will do it," Katya volunteered herself.

"Who would Gregory trust enough to let his guard down around them?" Rosa asked.

"Are you kidding?" Molly asked. "He is pretty much in love with you"

"Oh, do not be silly. Gregory and I are simply good friends" Rosa objected to the nerdette's claims.

"Either way, you are the only one who can distract him" Katya urged her.

"But what shall we converse about?"

"Just make something up!" Molly said.

"Very well then. I shall do this for our team!" Rosa said with determination and walked over to the bars. "Gregory?" she called the prison guard.

"Yes, Rosa, did something happen?" he quickly ran up and asked with concern in his voice.

"Ah, no, it is nothing serious. I was only wondering whether there is still much time left until this challenge is over" she attempted starting a conversation.

"I dunno, but I hope the guys come back soon. This is getting kinda boring" Greg took the bait, as Molly kneeling near Rosa started slowly searching his pocket. The first thing she pulled out, however, was a chewed gum, which made her grow a disgusted look and start quickly rubbing her hand on her skirt to get rid of it.

"I do agree. There is very little to do and the way Hailey has been is very concerning"

"Yeah, I'm worried about her, too. But she should be fine, once the challenge is over and she's out of the cage", as Greg was saying these words, Molly managed to pull the map out of his pocket and pass it to Katya.

"I hope so, too. I am so very relieved that she cannot be voted off. Well, to tell the truth, I am also relieved for myself" Rosa said.

"Yeah, I'm also really happy that you won't get kicked off" Greg said with a smile. "Uh, you and Hailey, that is" he quickly corrected himself, as Molly pulled out the key, but accidentally dropped it to the ground, making the grass near Greg rustle.

"What was that?" he asked, turning his head to locate the source.

"Ah, Gregory, wait!" Rosa said loudly, which caught the boy off guard. "There is something absolutely vital that I have to tell you" she continued, as Molly reached for the key.

"What is it, Rosa?" he asked, almost forgetting about the suspicious sound.

"Well, how should I put it? I was meaning to tell you..." Rosa struggled to come up with something on the spot. Just then she was shoved aside by Kim who quickly opened the cell door, which hit Greg's face and made him lose consciousness.

"This is for ruining my makeup!" she yelled and ran out with everyone else following her out.

"They're escaping!" Luke yelled, as he struggled to stand up and fell back. "Guys, don't let them leave the base!"

Hailey was the last one to get out of the cell, before she took a deep breath and shouted "Freedooooom!" She started running as quickly as possible, before she fell into a pit seconds later.

Everyone, besides Katya, was wildly running towards the flag, while trying to avoid getting caught. Soon, Jesse and Damien ran up and saw the complete chaos.

"What in the world is going on here?" Damien asked.

"Quick, after them!" Jesse shouted, before getting his lasso and throwing it at Molly, managing to catch her and tying the other end of the rope to the tree. He then started chasing Kim and Rosa, who were running close to each other.

"This guy is so annoying," Kim said in a frustrated tone, before accidentally tripping and falling, taking Rosa down with her. This landed both of them in a net.

"Is that all of 'em?" he asked, as he came up to the net that captured the two girls.

"No, there's Katya!" Luke shouted, and pointed to the girl, who was now climbing down the pole with the flag in her hand. "She's got our flag!"

After that, both Jesse and Damien quickly ran after her without a second thought.

"Wait, guys, the traps!" the ginger boy yelled after them, but it was too late, as soon they both stepped into nooses that captured them. From high up, they could see Katya crossing into neutral territory.

"Hang in there, guys, I'm coming!" Luke shouted.

"We don't really have a choice" Damien noticed grumpily.

"No time!" Jesse yelled as he took out a knife from his pocket and cut the knot that was holding him up and fell to the ground. He quickly recovered and started running to try and catch up to Katya.

"Wait, don't go alone!" Luke shouted, as he reached Damien, but the other boy was too far away at that point.

* * *

[Confessional]

Jesse: At that point, I knew I was the dudes' only hope. It was all on me, baby. So, just like in parkour - jump now, count your medical bills later!

[End Confessional]

* * *

"There are still places we haven't checked" Martin said, "Like the chin-up bars, the slides that Drew didn't get around to checking, the castle"

"Yeah, about that castle, notice how Piper's standing near it, while Vicki is constantly moving around. Plus, we saw that Piper was reluctant to chase us around" Kai noted. "She could be guarding the flag"

"It could just be a trap," Nate pointed out. "You said so yourself earlier"

"It's certainly a risk," Martin agreed. "We could end up wasting time or even getting caught there, but that's the best idea we have"

"And how are we gonna get there?" Nate asked.

"Vicki is a bit far away from the castle now, so if we move in fast, we can certainly overpower Piper" Martin said.

"Here" Kai gave large sticks to both of his teammates, before taking one himself. "This will deter them"

"I don't know about attacking girls with these," Martin admitted, looking at the weapon given to him.

"Come on, is now really the time to act like a gentleman?" Nate asked, somewhat annoyed.

"It's not like we're actually going to beat them with these," Kai reasoned. "This is just to scare them off"

"Fine" Martin finally gave in. "Now, let's go! This is our chance to win this thing!"

The three guys all ran towards the castle, waving their sticks around. It took a few moments for Piper to notice them, and when she did, she got startled and ducked out of their way, which gave them a chance to start climbing.

"Vicki!" she quickly called the other girl over after coming to her senses.

"Oh no!" the singer's eyes became wide as saucers, when she saw the boys climbing up the castle walls. She then quickly started sprinting towards them.

"Guys, one of you has to get inside there and start searching!" Martin yelled to the two boys climbing up the opposite wall.

"Got it" Kai said and, after a brief pause, told Nate "So, what are you waiting for? Jump in already!"

"Why me?"

"Cause those who don't jump have to try and ward off the girls and I'm physically stronger"

"Ugh, whatever" Nate said begrudgingly, before jumping in and bouncing up and down a few times.

"First, check if it's at the very bottom" Kai added, as Vicki started climbing the wall and getting closer and closer to him.

"I don't think there's anything here, guys," Nate yelled out, feeling around the rubber floor of the castle.

"Keep searching!" Martin said, as he was busy warding off Piper who had gotten a stick of her own, as did Vicki. "It could be wrapped around one of the balls"

"Easier said than done," Nate complained, rummaging through the balls. "I can't tell which ones I've already looked at!"

Just then, a fierce sword fight with sticks broke out between Kai and Vicki on the other side of the castle walls. As they were fighting, Kai's stick went through Vicki's hair and unbraided a part of it.

"Okay, that's it! You know how much time goes into these dreads?"

"Uh..." before Kai managed to say anything, she hit his stick with hers with such force that it flew out of his hands. She then quickly climbed up and took Kai by the collar of his shirt, before throwing him off the wall and beginning to comb down to where Nate was still searching.

"Guys..." he was about to say, before he got interrupted by a shout.

"Girls!" Katya' voice filled the space around everyone, as she ran towards the home base. Just then, Jesse suddenly lunged at her and both of them dropped to the ground. Despite the fall, Katya still held on to the flag, which promoted the two to start wrestling for it. A smile grew on Jesse's face when he overpowered the ballet dancer and was about to take the flag out of her hands. However, he was taken by surprise when suddenly Piper, who ran up to them, took the blue flag from her teammate.

"No!" he yelled, before trying to get up, but just as he was about to chase after Piper, Katya held him by the ankle, making him fall.

Right then, Piper ran into the girls' base, and Chris began his announcement, "And the girls win today's challenge! Congratulations, dudettes!"

"Alright!" Vicki cheered, as she released Nate, whom she was holding in a headlock, which led him to fall on his stomach.

"Nicely done, girls!" Rachel praised her teammates, as her and Drew came back.

"What a bummer" Drew whined, looking at his teammates.

"Dudes, get ready to say goodbye to one of your teammates. The first elimination ceremony is tonight" after hearing these words from Chris, the five boys at the scene shared uneasy glances.

* * *

[Confessional]

Martin: I feel so ashamed as a de-facto captain, because I was sure the victory was in the bag. Honestly, I think I should take the fall, but I have the invincibility, so we will have to pick someone else.

Jesse: Man, so much effort for nothing. Well, at least there's no way these doofuses can pin it on me - I gave it my all today!

Greg: *stares into the camera with his head covered in bandages*

[End Confessional]

* * *

A few hours later, as the sun was setting, six of the eight boys met in one of the classrooms of the academy.

"What's the point of gathering here, Martin?" Kai asked. "There's still about an hour until the elimination ceremony"

"I wanted to have a team meeting to discuss who to vote off" Martin explained.

"But Jesse and Drew aren't here" Luke pointed out. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"I didn't really call them, because I figured they were the two most likely candidates"

"Well, of you ask me, the guy most worthy of getting the boot is sitting next to you" Nate said, pointing to Greg, who was still seemingly staring into the universe. His eyes got somewhat teary after Nate's words.

"Sheesh, you don't have to take it so personally," Nate said, looking away.

"I don't think that's because of your words," Martin pointed out. "Either way, voting against Greg, or me for that matter, is impossible. Honestly, if I could I'd vote myself off. As the captain, I should've..."

"Yeah-yeah, spare us the cliché heartfelt speech" Nate interrupted him. "None of us were going to vote you off anyway"

"He's right," Luke agreed. "Whatever accomplishments we had in this challenge were thanks to your leadership"

"Really?" Martin said, genuinely surprised. "Well, I want to hear your thoughts on who we should vote off. Nate?"

"Seems like a no-brainer. Drew is the reason we lost our advantage at the girls' base"

"Plus, it was a dumb mistake," Kai agreed. "Who do you want to vote off, Martin?"

"I agree that Drew made a mistake, but Jesse isn't a good team player. He went after Katya all on his own, and that's why it was so easy for the girls to take the flag. Anyone with me?"

Greg quietly raised his hand, and so did Luke.

"I don't know about this," Nate said doubtfully. "He is a strong player"

"Individual strength isn't that important in a team setting. We should be able to work as a team and get along with one another. Martin's right, if you ask me - there's no "I" in team" Kai stated, to which Like raised his eyebrow.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: Okay, maybe I exaggerated how important team spirit or whatever is to me. But think about it, the boys vs girls dynamic never lasts long, so this could be my chance to get rid of a strong opponent.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"I still kinda disagree, but I don't care that much either way. Can I just go back to the dorms now?" Nate asked lazily.

"Gentlemen, may I interject?" Damien asked suddenly, after remaining silent for quite a while, which got the other boys' attention. "I promise I won't borrow much of your time"

* * *

About an hour later, the boys gathered near large brown doors on the third floor of the school with Chris standing next to them.

"It's time for the long awaited elimination ceremony to begin!" he announced, as he threw the doors open. Inside, was a small auditorium with five rows of seats, facing a stage with a podium. Above the part of the room with the podium was a skylight, and a few steps behind the podium was a large boot with an X painted in red next to it.

"Please, take a seat, so we can begin" Chris continued. The boys all sat at the first two rows and Chris stood behind the podium. "Time to explain the voting procedure! Each of you will walk into the voting booth one by one and cast your vote". As Chris mentioned the voting booth, he motioned to the door to the left of the stage he was standing on. The camera showed the inside of the booth - in the background was a closet full of trophies and medals, and in front of the camera was a counter with several files, each containing a picture of the student and several lines of information on them. "Once there, you'll have to take a seal and stamp the file of the student you want expelled. You can only vote for one student and, in this particular case, votes against Martin or Greg won't the counted. Got it?"

The boys all nodded.

"Let's begin then. Kai, you're up first"

* * *

[Voting booth]

Kai: We all know who is actually responsible for our loss *holds up Greg's file*, but I guess I'll have to go with this *stamps one of the files lying on the counter*

Jesse: *stamps Drew's file* That's what you get for messing with me!

Drew: *as Lu* Oh my, this is too cruel! Maybe I should vote for myself? *switches to La* Don't be a f****** idiot! *stamps Jesse's file* There! And who names their son Jesse, anyway?

Nate: Ugh, are you sure I can only vote for one?

Greg: *stares before stamping one of the files*

[End Voting Booth]

* * *

"It's time to start the fun part!" Chris exclaimed, as Chef came by with a plate of rolled up scrolls. "Those of you who get these diplomas are safe and the one sorry loser who ends up without one will be kicked out of the school. Literally" As he said that, an intern who was standing next to the boot was kicked by it with a huge force, launching him into the air and through the skylight, breaking the window in the process. This prompted terrified looks from the students. "Chef, I thought I told you to open the windows"

"Whoops, my bad," Chef said, as he pulled the lever near the stage, opening the skylight.

"Alrighty then! The first two marshmallows go to Martin and Greg, who had the invincibility," Chris said, as Chef threw the two diplomas at them, one of them hitting Greg in the face, before falling into his lap. "And according to your buddies' voting confessionals, you really needed it, Gregory"

"Next up, Damien and Nate!" Chris announced, as the two caught their diplomas.

"Kai, Luke, you both already had one vote against you," Chris said, before pausing for suspense. "But those were the only votes you got!", both smiled in relief, before Chef tossed them their diplomas.

"That leaves us with Drew and Jesse," Chris said, as both boys looked worried, as Damien raised an eyebrow. "Which one of you did your teammates find more unbearable? The last diploma goes to..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Drew!" Chris said, as Chef tossed him the diploma.

"What?" Jesse asked, shocked at the results.

* * *

[Confessional]

Damien: Obviously, I could convince the others to vote against Drew instead, but they were already so dead-set on getting rid of Jesse that trying to turn it all around could make me seem like a schemer, which could backfire on me…

*flashback*

"Gentlemen, may I interject?" Damien asked suddenly, after remaining silent for quite a while, which got the other boys' attention. "I promise I won't borrow much of your time"

"What is it?" Kai asked.

"I think in the future we should hold several individual meetings instead of a large group gathering, as to not make our victims suspicious, wouldn't you agree?" Damien proposed.

"That's a good idea" Martin remarked

*flashback ends*

Damien: … Plus, I guess there is a limit to how annoying you can be to be my ally.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"You picked this clown over the strongest player on this team?" Jesse continued his tirade. "You are so gonna regret this! Get ready to lose every challenge to those chicks!"

"What a passionate speech" Chris said, leaning on the podium. "Unfortunately, we are almost out of time here, so... Chef!"

Chef then came up to the still ranting Jesse and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him to the giant boot.

"See ya, Jessica!" La teased Jesse, as Chef put him down near the elimination device.

"Oh, that's it! After this is all over, I'm gonna find you and I'm gonna kick your aahhhhhhh!" Jesse was about to finish his threat, when the boot activated and catapulted him through the skylight.

"And that was the almighty Kick of Shame!" Chris said with a smile. "Well, this is it for today, folks! Wanna know who will be kicked out with a bang next? Then, tune in for more Total Drama School Life!"

* * *

 _Hello again and thanks for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed Chapter 2, in which I tried to preview some of the future interactions among the cast and finish introducing the characters by focusing on those who may have gotten less screentime in the premiere episode. I would really appreciate if you left a review, telling what you liked or didn't like, as well as any predictions you might have, because I feel like that'd be interesting to read. Feel free to share your thoughts on the elimination and whether you think the right contestant got the boot (quite literally). Picking them off one by one is only going to get tougher for me from here. I will also be sharing the individual votes here in my notes, though for this chapter they were pretty straight-forward:_

 _Jesse - 7 votes (Damien, Drew, Greg, Kai, Luke, Martin, Nate)_

 _Drew - 1 vote (Jesse)_

 _Kai - 1 vote (Automatic)_

 _Luke - 1 vote (Automatic)_

 _Alright, stay tuned for the next chapter, which I promise will have a lot of drama and a twist on a familiar challenge. See ya then!_


	3. Ch 3: Stage Fright or Flight

**Chapter 3: Stage Fright or Flight**

"Last time on Total Drama School Life" Chris began the recap, "We introduced our students to the luxuries that come with winning, before pitting the boys against the girls in the most epic "Capture the Flag" game in history! Several traps, chases, scavenger hunts and make up failures later, the girls imprisoned at the boys' base decided to use a certain drummer's infatuation with Rosa to break them out, rendering the ladies victorious and rendering Greg out of service. In the end, it was Jesse's lack of team-working skills and general inability to shut up that made him the first victim of the merciless Kick of Shame!" Chris stood next to the giant boot, as three redshirts were using brushes, rags and water sprayers to polish it.

"Aww, who's a good boy getting rid of these annoying teens?" Chris resumed in baby talk as he leaned down to the boot's tip, before noticing the interns' weird looks and turning back to the camera, "*cough*, Stay tuned for more Total Drama School Life!"

[Intro]

After the first elimination ceremony came to an end, the boys, besides Nate and Damien, headed back to the dorms. As soon as they opened the door, Drew dragged his feet to his bed and pushed his head into the pillow.

"Finally, today's over" he said tiredly, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"Uh, sorry to make this day even longer" Martin called attention to himself, "But there are still only six beds here and seven of us left"

"Heh, this is easy, amigo," La said, as he lifted his head. "As the captain of our ship, you get Jessica's bunk! And the guy who cost us the challenge gets to sleep on the cozy floor" as he said this, he gave Greg a dirty look.

"Well, if you think about it, even if the girls didn't break out of jail, Vicki would've caught all of us anyway, since someone didn't know how slides work" Kai pointed out.

"What'd you say, geek?" La asked almost threateningly.

"Just that if we're pointing fingers, some should be directed at you" Kai retorted back, keeping his cool.

"Yeah, I'm not your scapegoat" Greg said suddenly, the look in his eyes shifting from empty to bitter.

"If you're thinking of getting my bunk, you'll have to fight me for it, fatso!" La spit, as he hugged his pillow and frowned at Greg, before shifting to his gentler bear persona. "Violence seems too gruesome, but I agree - I am too delicate to sleep on this creaky floor!"

"Well, I'm not sleeping there either" Greg said, still giving Drew the same bitter look.

"Guys, let's not..." Martin tried to mediate, before noticing Luke putting his pillow and blanket near the table. "Luke, you don't have to..."

"It's fine, Greg can take my bunk" Luke cut him off while getting under the blanket. "Let's just go to sleep already"

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: Seriously? This the second time Luke volunteers like that already. This isn't Total Best Samaritan! With this attitude, I give him a few more episodes.

Luke: I can't stand it when people bicker for no reason, so I try to prevent it whenever I can. Plus, the floor wasn't that bad *stops for a second, before pulling out a large splinter from his back and staring at it*

[End Confessional]

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Winners' Quarters, Kim, Hailey and Rosa were sitting at the bar, the former getting a back rub from a female intern.

"Oh yeah, that's the spot" Kim said with a satisfied smile as her masseuse's male counterpart brought the student a yellow drink. "Ooh, passion fruit!" she exclaimed, after tasting it. "How'd you know it's my favorite?"

"Chris made us study the personal data you submitted" the blond guy replied unenthusiastically, before leaving the room.

"You guys should really work on your customer service skills" Kim commented, before taking another sip.

"I'm totally addicted to these chocolate chip cookies! Oh gods of reality TV, please let us win every challenge, so we can stay together forever", Hailey said with an entire tray of cookies in front of her. She then took one and extended it to Kim. "Want one?"

"No way!" Kim exclaimed in disgust, making a face. "I didn't win the genetic lottery to ruin my perfect appearance with this garbage! And I wouldn't be so keen on it if I were you, unless you're planning to become a sumo wrestler"

"Heh, my intense training turns all that fat into muscle, anyway. Rosa, what about you?" Hailey asked her teammate, but the other seemed to be deep in her thoughts. "Earth to Rosa!"

"Ah? Forgive me, I do not hunger at the moment" Rosa answered, still not paying much attention to the other two girls.

"Is something wrong?" the athlete asked, concerned.

"It is nothing too catastrophic, I was simply pondering whether it was the correct decision to trick Gregory today," Rosa answered. "He seemed a tad detached after the challenge"

"Of course, it was the correct decision," Kim said dismissively. "The jerk ruined my hair and make-up! He deserved all of that and more!"

"Chill, it was just a little water" Hailey retorted. "Your hair and face are still intact, aren't they?"

"Just a little water?" Kim protested. "That fat slob completely ruined my look - you know how much time and money it takes to look as fabulous as I do?"

"Hey, I don't care how pretty you are - that doesn't give you a right to insult people!" Hailey stood up, getting mad at the fashionista.

"Stop!" the girls saw Katya in a red tracksuit with a towel around her shoulders approaching them. "Arguing is terrible for team morale. Not to mention useless. It's time to go to bed, anyway"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Hailey saluted.

"Ugh, who are you - my mom? And by the way, red really isn't your color" Kim said skeptically.

This was met by complete silence from Katya, until she morphed her usual emotionless expression into a glare.

"Jeez, okay, I was getting tired anyway" Kim conceited, clearly fazed, before her and Hailey went to one of the bedrooms.

* * *

[Confessional]

Hailey: Greg is a nice dude and he totally helped me beat the dragon master in DragonAge 3 the other day, so we're pals. And nobody comes for my friends! If Katya didn't step in, that Kim chick would be getting a taste of my right hook!

[End Confessional]

* * *

Sitting at one of the table in the library, Nate was carefully arranging the game pieces around a large game board with "Castle Roamers" spelled in gold in the middle of it. Focused on the task at hand, he didn't notice the footsteps approaching him.

"Hey, Nate!" Piper called over, startling him a bit. "I see you had the same idea as me"

"Great minds think alike, I guess" he joked in response. "Plus, I figured you'd want a rematch after I crushed you yesterday"

"Oh, you two have quite the rivalry going on" Rachel said, as her and Vicki approached the two.

"Um, did you two get lost on your way to the bathroom?" Nate asked.

"Nate, I hope you don't mind - I invited Vicki and Rachel to join us," Piper said, as she sat down next to the boy. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Plus, we've always wanted to play, uh..." Vicki began, before leaning down to the table, "Castle, err, Roamers!"

"Great!" Nate replied with a forced smile.

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: Ugh, I hate playing with amateurs. You constantly have to hold their hand through every new chamber and talisman. But Piper is pretty much the only non-annoying person here, so I'll try to play along.

Rachel: It was really Vicki's idea to see what this game time in the library was all about. And, hey, I didn't have anything better to do. Maybe I'll even like it.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Woohoo, boxcars!" Vicki cheered, as both dice showed six dots. "Told ya I'd be awesome at this!"

"Great, you get to advance three rooms in any direction!" Piper said with a smile.

"Alright, let's go to the right then" Vicki decided, moving her game piece and taking a card.

"Royal Bathroom" she read out, "Take a toilet break and skip your move. Man!"

"My turn!" Rachel announced, before throwing the dice and getting a three and a one.

"A combination of less than five means you are ambushed by a mythical creature" Nate explained. "Now we have to count up the outcomes of the last eight dice throws"

"It's fifty six," Piper said, as she completed the computation in her notebook. "Which means..."

"You get ambushed by a mob of rabid leprechauns and have to give your weapon to another player" her and Nate said in unison.

"Oh, come on. Not the Arrow of Light!" Rachel sulked, "I guess I'll give it to a fellow newbie"

"Thanks, I guess?" Vicki said unsurely, taking a card from Rachel. "Wait, it says that this arrow is perfectly compatible with the Royal Bathroom card"

"That means you only need one more compatible card to win this!" Piper pointed out with a smile. "You're really rocking this!"

"Alright!" Vicki stood up, raiding her fists in the air. "That's what I call playing smart!"

Nate rolled his eyes, annoyed by the singer's antics. "Wait, wasn't that the twenty-first turn of the game?" he asked suddenly, pulling out his notebook.

"Right, it was!" Piper said, before turning to Vicki with a disappointed face. "Sorry Vick, but every time the number of the current turn can be divided by two prime numbers, perfect compatibility actually makes you lose all your money and weapons and go all the way back to the entrance hall"

Vicki's eye began twitching, as Nate took all her cards.

* * *

Damien was walking around the science lab on the second floor with a large book in his hands. The lab was a large room with yellow walls and cupboards holding scientific equipment and different chemical samples adjacent to every wall. Three rows of black desks with water faucets and drawers underneath them occupied most of the space in the room.

"Step one towards success - believe in yourself. There's a shining speck of talent within each and every human on Earth," Damien read out, before grinning. "Heh, I knew the self-motivation section of the library would provide me with some good laughs"

"Ah, Damien!" someone shouted in surprise, as the rich guy turned a corner, before he dropped his book and fell back, bumping into someone in a lab coat. That someone turned out to be Molly, who was now surrounded by shards of glass and tiny pieces of metal.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry" Molly apologized, before scrambling to pick up Damien's book and hand it back to him.

"A simple apology won't cut it," Damien pointed out as he dusted himself off and snatching the book from her. "For starters, take care of the mess you've made"

"But wasn't it you who bumped..." she was about to protest, before Damien's annoyed expression turned into a piercing glare. "Ah, there's the broom"

As Molly hurried to get the broom, her new companion sat on one of the chairs and resumed his reading.

"So, why are you reading here and not in the library?" Molly asked, as she began sweeping.

"Nate and a few others are making too much noise, playing tic-tac-toe or something over there," Damien answered unenthusiastically.

"Well, I've been looking for the science lab the whole evening to test some of my newer inventions. I'm really glad they have almost all the equipment I need for my experiments," Molly explained.

"I don't recall asking you why you were here," Damien noted, his eyes still peeled to the book in his hands.

"Haha, I guess it's true. Sorry" the scientist said nervously, before picking up the plastic bag with the shards and heading to the trash can in the corner of the room.

"Unless, this is no ordinary small talk" Damien exclaimed, as he sprung up from his seat and stared at Molly, who was just about to pass him.

"Huh?" she asked incredulously.

"Unless this is your attempt to establish a bond," Damien continued. "A strategic bond, a bond one might even call an alliance" he emphasized the last word and raised his eyebrow.

"An alliance? But we're on different teams" Molly asked, still confused by their conversation.

"Are you trying to imply that I won't make it far enough to see these useless teams merge?"

"No, not at all!" Molly tried to assure him, while flailing her hands in the air, trying not to upset Damien again. "I'm just not sure if I'll make it"

"Well, if we are to be allies, I will have to ensure that you do" he answered calmly.

"Wait, so, does that mean that we're allies?" Molly asked wearily.

"Ugh, fine, you don't have to resort to begging. I shall entertain the idea," Damien said, rolling his eyes, before heading to the exit. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will try to find a quieter place for my reading"

This left Molly wide eyed, stuck in the same place she was when Damien began talking, the plastic bag still in her hands.

* * *

[Confessional]

Molly: I'm not sure what just happened, but I think Damien just promised to take me to the merge! *swoons* Well-spoken and generous - and then they say perfect guys don't exist.

Damien: My alliance with the brainless jock may have been a complete fiasco, but it's not just self-confident egomaniacs that are easy to fool. Their complete opposites are the exact same in that regard. And Molly has about as much confidence as a piglet on its way to a slaughterhouse.

[End Confessional]

* * *

The next morning, the fifteen remaining students assembled in the entrance hall of the school, as was requested by Chris. He was already standing by the staircase, waiting for them.

"Good morning, students. Hope you slept well, because there's a very responsible task ahead of us today" he announced cheerfully.

"We'd sleep better if a certain big guy didn't snore so much" La complained, pointing to Greg, who was standing next to him, but paid little attention to the masked student's words.

"What's the responsible task?" Martin asked curiously.

"First things first, I need to announce the reward for victory in the previous challenge" Chris said.

"We're getting a reward?" Rachel asked. "Awesome!"

"Not all of you" Chris corrected her. "The reward is just for two of the girls. And since Piper was technically the one who brought the win to you by getting the boys' flag to your base, she is one of those lucky two"

"Technically being the key word," Kim said.

"Thanks, Chris" Piper said, surprised that she was picked. "But all of us deserve the reward"

"Yeah-yeah, whatever" Chris muttered, trying to speed up the process. "Now you get to pick who gets to share the reward with you"

"Um, well, as I said we all worked hard, but I guess I'll pick Vicki"

"Alright!" Vicki cheered somewhat hesitantly, before walking over to Chris and Piper.

* * *

[Confessional]

Vicki: I'm thankful to Piper for choosing me, but knowing Chris, his definition of reward might be sending us both to an uninhabited island populated by mutant beavers and I'm not up for that.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"So, what's our reward?" Vicki asked impatiently.

"Trust me, girls, you'll like this. This reward may determine how a huge portion of the game goes for you. Because you two will perform the responsible task I was talking of. The task of picking teams for the rest of the game!"

"So, the boys and girls thing was another bogus setup?" Nate asked with an annoyed look on his face.

"Yes, but it's the last one - I promise" Chris smiled at him.

"Wait, if we're picking teams, does that mean..." Piper began.

"That you and Vicki will be on different teams? Yes, that's exactly what that means!" Chris confirmed her suspicions, his smile getting even wider.

"But can't we just pick someone else to lead the second team?" Piper asked.

"It's fine, Piper" Vicki assured her new friend, putting her hand on the computer nerd's shoulder. "We can still hang out outside of challenges. And eliminations. And except in the Winners' Quarters, since one of us won't be able to go there. But we can still make it, right, pal?"

"I guess" Piper mumbled.

"Anyway, since boys and girls are already conveniently standing apart, you will pick your teammates one by one starting with a boy, then a girl, and so on before no one's left" Chris began explaining. "Since Piper is the one who actually earned her reward she will choose first"

"Okay, um, Nate!" Piper called out, and the scrawny boy made his way to the front of the hall.

"Martin - you were a great leader yesterday, even if we completely crushed you," Vicki said, making her pick.

"Harsh" Martin commented. "Thanks anyway"

"Rachel" Piper called out, before high fiving the blonde.

"Picking the team mom?" Vicki teased the girls. "In that case, Katya!"

"Wise choice" Katya noted curtly, before standing next to Martin.

"We might need some more muscle on the team," Rachel told her new teammates.

"Then, who should it be?" Piper asked, before the trio looked at the remains five boys and said "Greg" in unison. The drummer gave them a slight nod, still not opening his mouth.

"Hmm..." Vicki's gaze was quickly shifting between the remaining boys, before Martin leaned to her ear.

"You know, setting traps in our camp yesterday was Luke's idea"

"Really?" Vicki asked, now excited. "Trapper Luke, welcome to the team"

"Well, it's not like I'm a real expert on traps or anything" he said timidly, as he approached his new teammates, blushing from the praise.

"Now who?" Piper wondered, now sizing up the girls.

"Not that I particularly care, but what about Molly? She isn't a complete idiot, which already make her a better candidate than most of them," Nate suggested.

"Maybe Hailey? She's a very competent player," Rachel offered.

"You wouldn't be saying this, if you saw her in our jail yesterday"

As Nate and Rachel kept discussing and Chris started tapping his foot in impatience, Piper noticed Martin wink at her. She then followed his gaze from Greg to Rosa, who was still not picked. He then put his hands together, as if begging Piper, and smiled.

"Rosa" Piper announced, catching her teammates off guard.

"Me? My sincere gratitude to you, Piper" Rosa spoke eloquently, walking over to her new teammates and stopping near Greg. "Oh, Gregory, isn't it marvelous that we are on the same team? I sure hope Hailey can join..."

"Hailey" Vicki called over, making her next pick.

"Tough luck" Greg stated without looking at the aspiring writer.

* * *

[Confessional]

Rosa: I'm afraid my troubling thoughts might have some truth to them - Gregory seems more distant than usual, but perhaps I think too much of my ability to influence his feelings. Sadness could creep into the corner of his eye for a completely different reason.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Any ideas, guys? This is getting pretty difficult" Piper asked her fellow teammates.

"Well, out of the three left, Kai seems the sanest" Nate suggested.

"Fine" Rachel agreed, "But keep an eye on him"

Piper nodded and called on Kai to join the team. Now only two boys remained - Drew and Damien.

"Damien" Vicki said with little enthusiasm.

"Took you long enough" Damien huffed, as he joined the ranks of Vicki's team.

"But I expect you to contribute more than you did on the guys' team" she added, which didn't elicit a response from Damien.

"Molly" Piper said, and the girl skipped over to the new captain, obviously relieved to not remain unpicked.

"You gotta be kidding" Kim said, now all alone on the girls' side.

"Well, this is certainly disheartening" Lu commented, as Drew faced the same situation.

"Now, for our main losers today" Chris began. "Kim will be on Vicky's fun ride, while Drew will rock it out with Piper" the two walked over to their respective teams.

"No fair, they have more people!" Hailey protested, as Piper's team indeed outnumbered Vicki's.

"Chun Li's right - we're already at a disadvantage!" Kim agreed, unaware of Hailey's glaring at her.

"They have more people, because Piper became a captain for winning the last challenge for the girls, while Vicki was just picked. And we only have fifteen people, so there's no way you can be split evenly" Chris explained, annoyed at the interruption. "That said, if any of you wish to volunteer to be sown in half..."

"It's fine," Vicki said. "Go on"

"Right, so now we have to give our new awesome teams some awesome names! So, from now on Vicki, Martin, Katya, Luke, Hailey, Damien and Kim will be known as..." the camera showed each contestant on order, before Chris decided to maintain a pause for dramatic effect. "The Pesky Preps!"

"What?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"Pesky?" Damien raised his eyebrow at the word choice.

"And who would ever wanna be called a prep?" Hailey protested.

"Don't look at me," Chris said. "I don't come up with those names - that's the producers' job. But you could back my suggestion instead" he smiled at the teens.

"Which is...?" Martin asked cautiously.

"The Gassy Greasers!" Chris announced with pride, which was followed by complete silence, until the teens started snickering.

"Greasers? Nice idea, gramps" Vicki said with a smirk. "Thanks for putting things into perspective"

"Ugh, whatever, moving on" Chris muttered grumpily and turned to Piper's team. "Piper, Nate, Rachel, Greg, Rosa, Kai, Molly and Drew - you are now the Nefarious Nerds!"

"That is not a very poetic name," Rosa said disappointedly.

"Eh, we all knew it'd be lame" Kai shrugged.

"Oh, it is lame!" Kim commented. "It almost makes me appreciate our name. Imagine being called nerds the rest of the game" her words were followed by many frowns from the other team.

"You're one to talk - imagine being named after the monkey see, monkey do of humanity" Nate retaliated.

"Don't pay attention to her, she's just trying to provoke us" Rachel said to him.

"Rachel is right, guys," Chris agreed. "Let's save some drama for the challenge, which begins right now! But first, we have to get to the third floor. Chop-chop!"

* * *

The teens followed the host upstairs to wide double doors that led to a large room with several rows of seats before a sizable stage with red and black curtains.

"Look like a way bigger version of the elimination room" Martin commented.

"This is the school theater!" Chris announced "And it is directly related to our challenge today. Hint-hint, it's an event that school theaters often host and that gave rise to dozens of horrible high school movies"

"Don't tell me!" Kim's eyes gleamed with excitement. "A talent contest?!"

"Correctamundo!" Chris confirmed with a smile.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kim: My sorry excuses for teammates can already celebrate victory - I was the winner of every talent contest in my school for twelve years in a row. You don't get to be the most popular girl in school for nothing.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Jeez, what an original and innovative idea" Nate pointed out sarcastically.

"Indeed, we have hosted talent contests on Total Drama in the past, but this time things will be a tad different" Chris began with the rules. "Each of the team's will have to set up a performance in three separate categories. First up, music and dance - soulful strumming of the guitar, fast and passionate tango or just slow and painful torture with a bagpipe. Secondly, athletics - lifting 50-kilo weights, playing soccer with seven balls, jumping across lava pits - that kinda stuff. And finally, my favorite category - miscellaneous!"

"What does that mean?" Luke asked.

"Any interesting talents that don't fit into the previous categories, so if you can eat a watermelon whole or draw Mona Lisa with your snot, that's the category for you" Chris elaborated, as some students made disgusted faces at his examples. "There can be as many people participating in each performance as you want, but a single team member can only contribute to one performance. Got it?"

"But how do we determine who wins?" Piper asked.

"A panel of three judges led by yours truly will determine which team wins in each category. The team that wins in most categories wins the challenge. You will find any equipment you need backstage. Any questions?" As nobody raised their hand, Chris resumed, "Great! You have three hours to prepare. Good luck and I hope some of you fail miserably"

He then jumped off the stage and headed to the doors, leaving the students to come up with their performances.

"Okay, so I guess we should first think about who'll perform in which category" Martin said to his teammates as they huddled in a circle.

"Oh, me-me-me! I wanna do the sports part!" Hailey jumped up and down with her arm raised.

"I don't think anyone has objections" Vicki made a guess, which was confirmed by the silence that followed. "Well, you sure don't have to worry about the music and dance section, because your team leader's got it!" she nominated herself confidently.

"Actually I think I'll stand a better chance," Katya declared just as confidently.

"Not to toot my own horn, but as far as I know I am the only professional singer here" Vicki retaliated, slightly surprised by Katya's challenge.

"And as far as I know I am the only professional ballet dancer" the ballerina stated calmly.

"Well, we need to settle this somehow" Luke pointed out.

"Alright then, I say we square off against each other in a sick musical battle to see who gets to do it" the team captain suggested.

"Good idea. And to not slow down the rehearsals, our duel will be halfway through the rehearsals" Katya added.

"Deal" Vicki said, before the two shook hands.

"Okay, now who'll do the miscellaneous?" Martin asked.

"Um, I can do math problems in my head" Luke suggested meekly.

"The third act will obviously be me!" Kim exclaimed, cutting the ginger off.

"You doing...?" Martin asked.

"Me doing the only thing befitting of me - acting on the big stage, of course" Kim announced with a hair flip.

"If everyone is okay with that, let's go backstage and find the equipment for our performances" Martin announced, before everyone headed backstage.

"Okay, so does anyone want to volunteer for one of the categories?" Piper asked her teammates, but no answer followed. Just then, the Preps all passed them on their way to the back of the stage.

"And we're already behind" Kai pointed out.

"Come on, guys, any volunteers?" Piper asked again.

"I know what we should do" Rachel said, putting her hand on Piper's shoulder. "Let's hold auditions! Everyone can show their strengths and whoever gets the most votes represents us before the judges. Any objections?"

"No, there are none. It's not like we have a choice - that's the only decent idea," Kai answered. "But we can't hold auditions here" he pointed to the stage, where the opposing teams were already setting up the equipment.

"How about the gym? It should be large enough," Molly suggested.

"Great idea!" Rachel exclaimed. "To the gym, everyone! But first, take any props you might need in your performances" The Nerds then dug into the boxes of various costumes, tools and instruments, just like their opponents did a minute ago.

* * *

[Confessional]

Piper: This challenge is going to be a bit tougher, since the other team's talents seem to fit the categories, but I have faith in our team! *smiles forcedly*

[End Confessional]

* * *

While the teams began their preparations, the host decided to take some time to relax in the principal's office. Chris's head was peacefully resting on folded towel surrounded by pink flower petals and candles, as a female intern set black stones along his spine. Suddenly, the doors to the office burst open and Chef ran into the room.

"What is it?" Chris asked in frustration, lifting his head to reveal a brown mud-like mask on his face and a pickle on each of his eyes.

"Chris, we have an emergency!" Chef shouted, "the guy who was supposed to be the third judge is ... um, not available"

"What happened?" Chris asked.

"You see..." Chef started explaining, as a flashback began.

Chef was in his kitchen, mixing the contents of a large pot on the stove, while a handsome tanned redshirt was standing on a stepladder and tinkering with a light bulb a few meters away.

"Alright, now all I have to do is fit a new one into the socket" the intern said, as he retrieved a new light bulb. "Glad I could help you, Chef"

For a second, Chef blushed and giggled at the intern, before snapping out of it. "Uh yeah, thanks, Diego. I could've done it myself, but I gotta make food for those ungrateful maggots," he complained, turning the stove off and grabbing the pot.

"No prob" the intern said, starting to insert the new light bulb.

Suddenly, a large rat scurried over from behind the fridge to the table, which didn't go unnoticed by Chef.

"A-ha! There it is - I've been trying to get you all day!" Chef exclaimed, before instinctively throwing the pot away and beginning to chase after the small critter. The pot's liquid contents ended up landing all over Diego, who was too caught up with repair works to notice what was going on around him. The liquid spilling onto the wiring ended up giving the redshirt an electric shock, after which he lost consciousness and fell on his back.

"Oh" Chef said, leaning down to look at him.

"So, yeah, he's not gonna make it" Chef concluded, as the flashback ended.

"Are you sure?" Chris asked, standing up from the massage table. "He was the only intern decent-looking enough to do this"

"Man, he won't be up for a week after that" Chef assured the host. "So, are there just going to be two judges?"

"No way, I promised the audience that there'd be three. We cannot fail their expectations!" Chris said in an over dramatic fashion.

"But who loves Total Drama so much that they'd get here on short notice?" Chef asked skeptically.

"Loves Total Drama..." Chris repeated, thinking. "Or is desperate enough to get their face on the TV screen!" he smiled in realization, before dialing something on his cellphone.

"Who are you...?" Chef was about to ask before Chris started talking on his phone.

"Hello again, pal. Long time no see, huh?" the host began.

* * *

"Alright, guys, carry everything in!" Rachel said, as everyone besides her and Piper walked into the gym with their hands full of random stuff they managed to take from backstage of the theater. Once they placed all of their props near one of the walls of the gym, it ended up taking up a significant portion of space with dozens of articles of sports equipment, musical instruments, costumes and magic show props, among which a Chris standee, a piano, a tennis ball machine and a huge replica of a T-Rex.

"Okay, so, let's begin with music and dance. Just take anything you can find in the pile and give us your best shot!" Rachel announced, which wasn't really met with any action from the others. "Come on, guys, you must have some hidden talents. It's time to give it your all!" then the team members began slowly searching for something among the props.

* * *

[Confessional]

Rachel: I can see that being a leader is a little tough for Piper, so I can help her steer for now, because I'm more experienced in this. I don't think she minds.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Okay, so the person who gets more applause from our team will get to perform for the judges" Rachel said, as she took a notepad and sat down on the bleachers next to Piper, while everyone else picked random seats. "Do your best!"

The first to audition was Molly, who was attempting to tap dance. However, her steps were so chaotic and loud that the audience had to shut their ears and small pebbles fell from the ceiling. Up next was Piper, performing a simple tune on a kazoo. As she finished her song, almost everyone gave her bored looks, before Nate started clapping somewhat unsurely, which made the captain cheer up a bit.

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: Piper's kazoo playing skills are nonexistent, but she's pretty much the only non-annoying person here and I read somewhere that girls like to be complimented. It's not that I'm trying to please her or anything - I'm, uh, just trying to be a better teammate or something.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Drew was next to the stage, as he began singing an opera piece in German meant for several singers, as he switched between his masked characters in accordance to the song switching between high and low notes. As he kept going, the Nerds became more and more impressed, until he attempted to hit a particularly high note, which ended up shattering Molly's glasses and the windows in the gym. When Drew looked around him, he saw that a pack of dogs came to his singing, before they lunged at him, making him scream.

"Oh dear, it's not yet time for autographs!" Lu squeaked.

"Hey, what kind of dog attacks a wolf, anyway?" La asked, before one of the dogs chomped on his shoulder, prompting another scream, while everyone in the audience either cringed or were wide eyed with horror.

"This is useless. Remind me again, why we're wasting time when there is a real band member on our team!" Kai said angrily, pointing to Greg, who was sitting next to him.

"Meh, I don't feel like it," Greg said lazily, looking away.

"What does that even mean?" Kai asked, raising his arms. "You do realize this could get you eliminated, right?" The larger guy didn't respond.

"Please, Greg, we really need all the help we can get" Rachel pleaded with him.

"Fine" Greg sighed.

Greg came down from the bleachers to a set of drums carried from the theater and sat behind them. He then started playing the drums, setting the beat. His performance lasted about a minute - one of pleasant, but otherwise not awe inspiring music.

"Is this really it?" Nate asked, clearly underwhelmed by the performance.

"Yup" Greg answered simply.

"Seems like that's the best one we have so far," Rachel said.

"That still doesn't cut it - the judges won't be impressed with simple drumbeating," Kai stated. "I didn't actually plan this, but I recall taking music classes in school"

He then came down the bleachers and pulled the piano a bit away from the pile of props with great effort, before standing behind it, leaning down. He then started pushing the keys - at first, with caution, but gaining in confidence with every moment, until his playing acquired an impressive degree of virtuosity. When he concluded, quite a large round of applause sounded from the audience.

"Thank you" Kai replied courtly.

"That was beautiful" Piper praised him.

"It was pretty, but aren't we just replacing a guy on the drums with a guy at the piano?" Nate inquired, "Wasn't all that impressive"

"Nate might have a point," Rachel agreed. "Will the judges give this high marks?"

"There's only so much I can do alone," Kai reasoned, getting a bit defensive with all that criticism. "Maybe someone else could contribute. Can anyone do an interpretive dance?" as he said that, Molly raise her hand. "Tap dancing isn't interpretive"

As Molly hung her head and lowered her hand, Rosa raised hers.

"I didn't know you could dance" Piper remarked, as she saw that.

"No, it is not regarding dancing" Rosa said. "It is simply that I could contribute to the music. I too have attended piano forte lessons, so I could accompany Kai during his performance."

"Oh, a romantic duet! Yes, this is a great idea!" Rachel exclaimed excitedly, as Greg frowned. "I think this should earn us some points"

"Hmm, I agree that it's a strategy that could work" Kai agreed, before hurrying Rosa along. "Okay, no time to waste, let's start rehearsing"

"While you guys begin, I think everyone else should take a breather," Rachel suggested. "We should get some snacks, in case we get hungry. And Nate will get them from the cafeteria"

"Wait, what?" Nate asked, not expecting the order, "Why me?"

"Fine, I can go with you," Rachel conceded.

"It's okay, Rachel, I can go to the cafeteria with Nate" Piper said, standing up. "You should stay just in case something happens"

Piper and Nate walked out of the gym, when Molly also stood up from her seat and hurried over to the exit.

"Did something happen?" Rachel asked her, as she was about to walk out the door.

"Huh?" Molly turned to her in surprise. "Uh, no, not at all, hehe, I just wanna get some air is all" she said somewhat unsurely.

"Don't take too long!" Rachel shouted after her, as Kai resumed playing the piano.

* * *

On the theater stage, Vicki stood behind a synthesizer, plucking and twisting different tiny buttons and levers, testing different sounds. Then she grinned and started mixing sounds more systematically, managing to produce a certain beat. She bobbed her head to it and smiled to herself again, before the beat was drowned out by a more classical melody. When Vicki turned, she saw Katya in a black leotard turn on a music player, before taking on some basic ballet positions, at which the singer frowned.

* * *

[Confessional]

Vicki: The advantage Katya has over me is that ballet is widely seen as "art", while EDM isn't. Still, I have a secret weapon. *reaches down and shows the camera a violin* I haven't played the thing in years, but I should still know the basics *starts playing*

[End Confessional]

* * *

Backstage, another performance was in its planning stage.

"Okay, what options do we have?" Kim asked, as Luke came up to her holding several outfits.

"Uh, how about these?" the boy asked, as he lifted six distinct costumes by their hangers for the popular girl to pass judgment.

"Too damsel in distress" Kim scoffed at a simple long sleeved light blue dress. "Too casual" she dismissed the T-shirt and jeans. "Ugh, the French Revolution called, they want this tragic knockoff executed" she pulled on the corset of the pretend 18th century gown. "Cheap spy flick much?" the drama queen raised her eyebrow at a black catsuit. "I don't feel like playing a prison escapee," she said to the orange jumpsuit. "And this is just... tacky! How hard can it be to choose something that will inspire me?" she concluded her fashion assault, after flinging an insult at a yellow frilly dress.

Luke hung the outfits on the stillage with a sigh, when Martin approached the two.

"Shouldn't you pick the outfit after you settled on your performance?" he asked.

"Oh, boys, if you were true actors like me, you'd know that the only way to perform convincingly is to completely envision your character before saying even a single word" Kim declared in a condescending fashion, crossing her arms.

"Fine, just don't take too long," Martin conceded. "We don't have that much time"

He then left the backstage to check on other performers.

* * *

[Confessional]

Martin: Since Vicki is too caught up in her, um, artistic rivalry with Katya, she put me in charge of managing the team as a whole. We have a few small issues, but I think we have a good chance of winning this.

[End Confessional]

* * *

While everyone else was concerned with the upcoming show, Damien instead got back to reading. Leaning comfortably in one of the seats in the first row, he leisurely flipped the page of yet another book.

"Psst, Damien" someone whispered, startling the rich guy and making him drop his book.

As he looked around, before kneeling down and seeing Molly cower under his seat. Raising his eyebrow, he said, "You should really abandon the business of frightening me. What are you even doing there?"

"I'm hiding from your team," she explained obliviously.

"That I can see. And, by the way, you're not doing a very good job" he remarked, as the camera panned out to show that Molly could easily be seen from the stage.

"Why are you here?"

"I figured you'd want to discuss our alliance," she said, much more loudly than she planned.

"Quiet, you idiot!" he whispered angrily. "What is there to discuss? We simply lay low and pretend that nothing is happening, which you've already proven to be incapable of"

"But we're still on different teams and..."

"Exactly, so your showing up here is suspicious. All you should do for now is try not to get kicked off. We will talk more about this later. Now get out!" as Damien ordered that, Molly tried to climb out from beneath his seat, before he positioned his leg in her way. "Not like this, you bumbling idiot - try to crawl to the door" he instructed in frustration, before shaking his head and getting back to reading.

* * *

[Confessional]

Molly: It's so kind of Damien to always take time to explain everything for me *clasps hands and brings them to her cheek*

[End Confessional]

* * *

Molly crawled under the seats, before she reached the last one and was about to climb out, when suddenly a blade was brought up to the tip of her nose. As she looked up, she saw a frowning Hailey towering over her.

"Hi, Hailey" she greeted awkwardly. "I know that this looks suspicious, but I swear I was just..."

"Hey, Molly!" Hailey greeted the nerdette enthusiastically. "Did you wanna switch teams or something?"

"I, well..."

"You should probably ask Chris about that. Anyway, did you see what cool swords I found backstage?" Hailey kept blabbering, as she showed her weapon to Molly. "It's just like the one I use for training back home. They also had nunchucks and throwing stars and even a trident! Who'd ever need that?"

"Right" Molly agreed halfheartedly, as she rose from under the seats. "Well, I gotta go, so good luck" she muttered awkwardly, before sprinting out of the theater.

* * *

[Confessional]

Hailey: Look, I'm not stupid - I saw that Molly was here to meet up with Richie Rich, but, you know, the heart wants what it wants, so I couldn't stand in the way of the forbidden love between the geeks of two opposing clans - the Preps and the Nerds. *pauses briefly* What? I'm a romantic at heart!

[End Confessional]

* * *

Hailey resumed her training with the swords, but stopped in thought for a second.

"These swords are pretty cool, but I feel like something's missing," she pondered.

Right then, Piper and Nate were passing by the theater door on their way to the cafeteria.

"I hope Chef has something on the counter besides the slob he normally gives out" Piper said.

"He did have some sandwiches, chocolate and fruit during breakfast" Nate replied. "Probably because of Board of Education regulations or something."

As Hailey heard those words, she grinned and rushed out of the theater.

* * *

Nate and Piper poked their heads into the cafeteria to see if Chef was there, but after finding out the coast is clear, they simply walked in. The captain of the Nefarious Nerds walked over to the counter, trying to find something for the team to enjoy.

"There are these chicken sandwiches," she said, pointing to a bunch of sandwiches behind the glass. "Do you know if any of our teammates are vegetarian?"

"Nope" Nate answered nonchalantly, "Never really bothered to ask"

"Hmm, I guess I'll just take a few apples just in case" Piper reasoned, getting behind the counter and sliding one of the glass panes.

"Speaking of bothering, doesn't it bother you that Rachel pretty much took over as the captain?"

"Not really" Piper admitted, while stacking sandwiches into a single paper bag. "It's not like I volunteered to be the captain - Chris just kinda made me and Vicki do it"

"So you don't mind at all?" Nate asked again.

"I'm good at organizing code, not people" Piper joked. "I can't really make others listen to me and Rachel seems to be way better at this stuff." As she reached to get a few apples from a glass vase sitting atop the counter, she accidentally shifted it too much and sent it tumbling down. Just as it was about to hit the floor, however, it was caught by Nate.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed, putting the vase back, before kneeling down. "We just gotta pick up those apples now"

"Phew, thanks! You just saved me from sure death at the hands of Chef" Piper joked as she joined in to help him, "Great reaction time, by the way. I'd be too much of a slowpoke to pull that off"

"Heh, that's nothing" the scrawny guy said, dropping the apples into Piper's paper bag, "I've got great hand eye coordination after years of playing hyperbullet fast chess"

"Wow" Piper remarked, before he eyes widened in realization and she started pulling Nate by the sleeve. "Quick, let's go back to the gym!"

"Hey, what are you doing?" Nate asked, getting dragged away by her.

* * *

In the gym, Kai and Rosa were busy rehearsing, while everyone else bar Piper and Nate sat on the bleachers. The two sat at the piano and ran their fingers along the keys in harmony, producing pleasant music, but the facial expression of one of them depicted clear discontent.

"Something's still missing" Kai said, when him and the resident writer finished their umpteenth attempt.

"Perhaps, we should try a melody that is more jovial and effervescent? The pieces we've tried have been quite somber," Rosa suggested, sitting to his left.

"No, that's no it" he dismissed her advice, "I feel like this is just too simplistic, too ordinary"

"Oh, come on, you're just thinking about it too much" Rachel butted into their discussion. "The music you're playing sounds good and that's all that matters"

"Good? You can't seriously be thinking that we'll win this challenge by being just good!" Kai started ranting as he sprung to his feet, "Did you see how little time it took for them to figure out their performances? We haven't even decided what we're going to do for the other two categories!"

"See, now you're just being unpleasant" Rachel chided him. "Instead you two should just take a break and go back to rehearsals with new energy. And you'd be better off thinking of your partner once in a while"

* * *

[Confessional]

Rachel: Kai seems to always think that he's right and his opinion is the only thing that matters - that much I knew ever since our first challenge together. But as the one in charge of the challenge, it's my responsibility to pull him back to Earth.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Thinking of your partner" Kai muttered under his nose, pacing back and forth, before he stopped, "Exactly! I'm an idiot!"

"Finally" Rachel stated with a smile.

"You're a writer, right?" he asked Rosa, to which she quietly nodded. "So, do you write just prose or poetry, too?"

"Well, I write poems from time to time" Rosa answered, not realizing where his interrogation was going.

"We need to add words" he explained concisely, "That way we can add more meaning to the performance. Can you show some of your poems to me?"

"Uh, I could, but I never intended for them to be used as lyrics" Rosa stood up and pulled out a small notebook, still a little confused, before Kai took her by the hand and sprinted to the doors.

"Great, let's go somewhere more quiet and pick the right poem" he said, as they walked out of the room.

"Kai, that's not..." Rachel was about to protest before getting interrupted by someone else walking through the doors.

"Rachel, I found it!" Piper shouted, as she ran into the gym with Nate right behind her.

"The snacks?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"No, I know what we can do for the athletic part of the talent show! Nate can play speed chess!" the assigned captain exclaimed in excitement.

"Are you sure?" Rachel raised her eyebrow at the suggestion.

"I second that - I don't really feel like performing" Nate agreed, similarly skeptical of the idea.

"Chess is considered a sport," Piper pointed out. "And it's not like anyone else has anything better"

As Rachel looked at the bleachers behind her, Drew, Molly and Greg all shook their heads in silence. "Okay then," she conceded, "But how do you see the performance staged?"

"Nate could compete against someone" Piper suggested, "Hey Molly, don't you play chess?

"I do, but I never tried the fast version," the nerdette admitted.

"That's a bad idea," Nate said. "Even if I taught her, the judges could still think that she's forfeiting the game for me to look more impressive"

"But then, how can we do it?" Piper asked.

"Uh, I guess I could play against myself" Nate said. "I have enough experience to set up any game by playing for both sides. I could ask the judges to suggest any outcome they want, and I could act it out in less than a minute"

"Hmm, I guess that'd be pretty interesting" Rachel said. "Okay, Nate will do the athletics part. Good job, captain!" Piper blushed from the compliment.

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: I'm not too excited to perform in front of those so-called judges, but Piper wanted me to do it and she's pretty much... yeah, you get it. Plus, there's something pleasantly ironic in me being picked for the athletic category.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen," Luke began, standing on the theater stage, before looking down to see that only Martin and Damien were seated in the audience, as the rest had to take care of their own performances. "Or just gentlemen, I guess. I am very proud to present you the One Woman Theater" he finished reading from his cue card and moved to the corner of the stage.

Then, Kim leaped out from behind the curtain, dressed in a black garment with a fake skull in her hand. She then dramatically threw the arm with the skull into the air and exclaimed: "To be or not to be?" After pulling the skull to her heart, she continued, "That is the question". "And what even is a question, sweet people?" Kim pondered, looking out into the audience, the skull still held tightly to her dress. "What questions could there be when one can kill his brother and get away scot-free? And now, what am I to do - a simple orphan child without a father figure to look up to?" Kim started shouting the monologue, sometimes pausing for over the top gasps for air. "And now with dad gone, I feel truly..." she stopped to lower her head momentarily, before raising it again, her face now covered with running mascara, "alone!" she wailed and threw the skull behind her.

Kim then bowed slightly, but no applause followed. Both Martin and Damien looked on in disbelief, as Luke came up to them.

"I understand that you're in awe of what just took place, but I need feedback," Kim said to the shocked boys.

"*Cough*, that was, uh, really unique, Kim" Martin began unsurely. "You were very emotional, but I think there might have been something missing"

"Yes, basic acting skills," Damien deadpanned. "Or the ability to stick to the script"

"Excuse me?" Kim raised her eyebrow at his comments.

"What we mean is that maybe monologue isn't the best form of acting for the contest" Martin resumed. "How about trying something with a partner?"

"Fine, but only if he isn't millions of light years behind me in acting" Kim agreed reluctantly.

"That's not very likely" Damien quipped again.

"Enough chitchat, boys. Which one of you will accompany me on the stage?" Kim asked impatiently.

"Uh, actually, I can't, because Vicki put me in charge of monitoring the performances" Martin explained.

"And I have crippling stage fright" Damien followed, though Kim visibly wasn't convinced. "It's truly horrible - I tend to vomit on my partners"

"Fine," Kim rolled her eyes. "I guess it's your lucky day, nurse boy"

"Wait, but I..." Luke began protesting.

"We need to start rehearsing, pronto!" Kim called over, pulling the curtain.

* * *

[Confessional]

Luke: *Sigh* Well, how bad could it be?

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Wait!" Vicki exclaimed, as she opened the curtain right in front of Kim's face. "There's less than one and half hour left until the show, so you guys gotta pick the music and dance performance"

"Indeed" Katya agreed, also getting onto the stage dressed in the same black leotard. "You will choose between me and Vicki and we need everyone to be involved"

"Ugh, fine, but make it quick," Kim told the two, as she took a seat in the audience.

"Where's Hailey, by the way?" Martin asked, looking around.

"I'm here!" the athletic girl answered, entering the theater with a wheelbarrow full of fruit. "Don't start without me!" she called out, as she ran to the front of the theater and took a seat next to Martin.

"What is the wheelbarrow for?" he asked her in confusion.

"Oh, you'll see" she said with a smile. "Now shut up! I'm trying to watch - I bet you're the type of person who asks questions in the movies"

The banter in the audience was interrupted by a music player being brought to life and beginning to play a pleasant classical melody. The music was accompanied by Katya's graceful dance, beginning with smaller steps and simpler moves. Still, even these basic sequences manages to captivate the audience.

Suddenly, the classical music was interrupted by a sound of drums, which turned out to be Vicki pounding away at her electronic drum set on the other side of the stage, before she turned around to the synthesizer standing opposite of the drums and started playing on the keyboard. She then started pushing the various controllers to produce a beat, one of them even playing a recording of her own voice.

"Vicki, wait, we should try and do this in turns!" Martin shouted out to her to no avail.

Katya briefly glared at her rival before resuming her own performance. Her moves and leaps became bolder, as she performed with as much grace and poise as she could. Though the dance and the music accompaniment seemed jarring at first, Katya managed to add some speed to her routine and looked just as confident as she did when starting.

* * *

[Confessional]

Katya: I make my ballet students perform to rap songs to teach them to think creatively. A true ballerina can dance to anything.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Noticing that she was starting to lose her teammates' attention, Vicki decided it was time to step it up. She pulled out a violin from under the drum set, muted the electronic music, and brought the bow to the strings of the instrument. She then started to play a pleasant slow melody, which went much better with Katya's dancing.

"Are you admitting defeat?" Katya asked, as she once again quickly adapted her style of dance to a more traditional one.

Vicki kept playing without a word, before suddenly moving the bow away from the violin and onto the synthesizer, as she started to push the controllers with it, once again producing a beat. She then promptly went back to playing the violin. The track produced by the synth and the melody mixed into one song.

"This is so awesome!" Hailey exclaimed.

"It's classical and modern at the same time" Luke said, impressed by the performance. "Then again, Vicki is a professional"

Vicki kept switching from the violin to the synthesizer without much effort, but her opponent wasn't going to give up this easily. Katya kept going regardless, now synching her dance moves with the flow of the music. She moved more flowingly when only the violin was playing, and took bolder moves when the electronic musing would join in. They continued for a few more moments, before the song ended. Both girls were sweating and glaring at each other, when suddenly their teammates started clapping.

"Great job, guys," Martin said cheerfully. "We can totally beat the Nerds with this!"

"What do you mean "this"? Which one of us won?" Vicki asked impatiently.

"Yes, hurry up and tell us," Katya agreed. "We don't much time left"

"Well, after seeing all this, I think everyone will agree that you should perform together" Martin explained.

"What?" both of the girls exclaimed.

"Yes, that was amazing" Luke added. "You worked together very well"

"I'll admit you two aren't as talentless as I thought you'd be" Kim said begrudgingly.

"It was very good," Damien agreed. "So good that I almost recovered from Kim's acting"

"Hey!" Kim called out to him with a glare. "Ugh, anyhow we have to get back to rehearsing" she stepped away.

"Woah, wait a second!" Luke cried out, running after her.

"I didn't expect this, but we can try" Katya said, looking at Vicki.

"We won't try" the other responded. "We'll absolutely crush it! Quick, we need to come up with a new performance" she shouted, before her and Katya went backstage.

"Hey, are you two busy now?" Hailey asked Martin and Damien, as they were left alone in the audience.

"Not right now" Martin replied. "I'll have to check up on everyone in half an hour or so"

"This won't take long," Hailey promised. "We'll just go to the schoolyard for a few minutes. You too, guy in a suit whose name I don't remember"

"It's Damien, and no can do - I'm busy conserving my energy" the rich guy answered. This didn't satisfy Hailey though, and she suddenly picked him up and threw him over her shoulder. "What the heck are you doing?!"

She quickly carried him to the wheelbarrow and threw him on top of the fruit and vegetables, before steering it out of the theater, much to Martin's shock.

"Ugh, you stained my suit!" Damien complained.

"Martin, are you coming?" Hailey asked, her voice fading as she disappeared into the hallway.

"Yes, yes, I'm on my way!" the boy shouted, before gulping and following the other two.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Nerds were still holding auditions in the gym with miscellaneous as the only category left. Drew was sitting on a chair center stage, putting on a performance.

"I swear it wasn't me! I would never kill anyone!" Drew shouted as himself.

"That's exactly what someone who would kill someone would say!" he replied as La, jumping to the side.

"Yes, someone would say that a killer would... Wait, no, a killer said that someone would... Uhh, hey big brother, what would he say again?" Lu asked, puzzled by the interrogation.

"Ugh, whatever, I say we just torture the truth out of him! Just a few jolts of electricity and he'll be confessing in no time" La suggested, as he took out a taser.

"But isn't that too cruel?" Lu asked innocently.

"You know, I think it's time you grow a thicker skin. I want you to shock him," La decided with a smile, "giving" the taser to his companion.

"Oh no, no way, I can't do that!" Lu protested, turning to the ad cop. "I can't handle seeing others in pain!"

"Fine then, you don't have to see it - just close your eyes and stretch your arm" La said, clearly annoyed.

"You know, this could actually work" the bear said cheerfully, before closing his eyes and stretching his arm.

"Wait" was all La could say before he got zapped by the taser and started screaming. Once his screams stopped, he fell to the floor.

"Wow, that wasn't so bad" Lu commented in relief. "So did he tell the truth?"

The Nerds clapped semi-enthusiastically, as the comedy routine came to a close.

"Well, the humor is childish, but then again so is Chris" Kai reasoned. "I think this is our best bet"

"Good job, Drew!" Piper called out to him.

"Oh, thank you" Drew replied bashfully. "But you should probably praise all the actors - the other two did most of the work"

"Yeah, what are we, chopped liver?" La asked in frustration.

"Okay, does anyone else want to try?" Rachel asked her teammates.

"Uh, can I audition?" Molly raised her arm slowly. "There is something I really wanted to show you"

"Sure, go ahead" Rachel encouraged the scientist, as the latter got down from the bleachers.

Molly went to the pile of random props the team brought from the theater and picked up a high stool before placing it closer to the center of the "stage". She then took another stool and set it a couple of meters away from the first one, before taking a rope and tying an end around each stool. Finally, she took four multicolored balls and started cautiously getting onto the first stool. The girl took a deep breath, before putting her foot down onto the improvised tightrope and started juggling the balls. First slowly and then gradually picking up the pace, she made it halfway there, focusing on her juggling, as the rest of the team couldn't avert their gazes from her performance.

"Wow" Rachel exclaimed, as she kept staring at Molly.

"I always thought circuses were lame, but it's kinda impressive to see it right in front of you" Nate commented.

"Oh, simply looking brings me distress" Rosa said, her hand covering her mouth.

Molly managed to make it almost the whole way through, her eyes still plastered to the balls in her hands. Just at the end, she smiled confidently and took the last step towards the second stool. Suddenly, however, she seemed to place her foot at the wrong angle and lost her balance, beginning to move her arms around in the air in an attempt to regain it. This mistake prompted a few gasps from the audience. This only lasted a few seconds, before she placed the other foot and managed to reach the other end of the rope and caught all the balls. She then bowed to her teammates, who responded with applause.

"Thanks, guys" Molly said in gratitude. "You know, I've always wanted to perform this in front of someone, but I never had the courage to do it"

"So this was your first time?" Rachel asked, somewhat taken aback.

"Yeah, I figured this would be my only chance with the talent show and all"

* * *

[Confessional]

Molly: When Damien told me to make sure I wouldn't get kicked out earlier, that got me thinking that I wasn't contributing much to team effort and I remembered that I used to be obsessed with circuses before I got into technology. I would make my dad take me to circus for every single show. Dad has had a crippling fear of clowns ever since.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Congratulations on your dream coming true" Kai said in a hurry. "Now, do we all agree Drew is our pick for the miscellaneous?"

"Um, but I was hoping you would maybe pick me" Molly said in a quiet voice.

"Look, I don't think we should risk it with your act - there's just too much that could go wrong" Kai said.

"But I've trained a lot" Molly insisted. "Sure, a lot of time passed, but I think I can do it"

"You think?" Kai raised his eyebrow.

"I know you can do it," Rachel said suddenly. "These judges can't say no to what we just saw"

"Are you kidding? She almost fell there," Kai pointed out.

"But she recovered and it was still a really strong performance. Plus, you know Chris loves it when danger and high stakes come into play"

"But we already have a professional, uh, whatever Drew is. Why would we take that risk, if we can guarantee a solid act?"

"Hey, it's called performance art, kid!" La shouted.

"Exactly because Drew's a professional, Molly should have a go," Rachel explained, getting more and more frustrated with Kai. "He performs all the time, while for her this might be her only chance"

"So we should potentially sacrifice a point to make her feel better?" her opponent asked incredulously.

"Why do you think we won't get that point? Besides that little slip up, she was great"

"Ugh, arguing with you is useless. Why don't we let the captain decide?" Kai suggested.

"Okay then. Let Piper decide" Rachel agreed, as both turned to her.

Piper got wide-eyed, before beginning to nervously shift her gaze between Drew and Molly, and then Kai and Rachel.

* * *

[Confessional]

Piper: Man, why did I have to be the one to run after that flag?

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Uh, I guess..." Piper began, drawing out her words to buy some time. "I think we should maybe give Molly a chance"

"Really?" Molly asked in disbelief.

"Seriously?" La complained. "You stupid plebs wouldn't know art if it hit you in the face".

"So many *sniffle* sleepless nights, dreaming of my big break, now totally crushed" Lu said on the verge of tears.

"Now-now, settle down, friends" Drew told his characters. "We're actually all happy for Molly"

"Alright, there you go, Piper!" Rachel smiled. "That's how a real captain should act"

"You'll end up regretting this decision," Kai said. "Anyway, I guess we'll just have to make sure the other two performance are top notch, so we need to get back to rehearsals", as he said that, he left the gym with Rosa rushing after him with a notebook in her hands.

"Don't mind him," Rachel said with a glare. "He's just mad that not everything is going his way"

"Dear students, the time of the greatest talent show in history is almost here," Chris announced over the intercom. "I ask everyone to assemble in the theatre and add any last minute tweaks to your performances. I could say that I hope all of you prepared for this well, but I also want some good TV, so I hope we'll get to see a couple of epic flops as well"

* * *

As the Nerds, most of whom were in various costumes, flooded the theater, Rachel, Piper and the designated performers all went backstage, where most of the Preps already were. In front of the seats for the audience now stood a brown desk with three seats behind it for the judges. Drew and Greg took the seats right behind it, when Martin came up to the latter.

"Hey there, buddy" Martin began, sitting beside him.

"Hi" Greg replied with a bored expression, before he looked his former teammate up and down. "What's with the getup?"

"You'll see" Martin, who was dressed as a waiter, said. "How are things going with Rosa?"

"What are you talking about? It's clear I was an idiot to assume that she'd be interested in me"

"I mean, you can't know for sure if..."

"Martin!" Vicki's voice came from backstage. "Quick! Can you check if everyone is ready?"

"Uh, sure!" Martin yelled out, before turning to Greg. "Gotta run, let's talk about this later"

When he got backstage, he ran from one teammate to another, asking if they were fully set.

"You didn't forget what we practiced, right?" Hailey asked him somewhat threateningly, when Martin came up to her.

"N-no way! Damien will do it, too" he quickly replied.

"Good" she said with a wide smile.

"Okay, we're gonna rock this thing! Let's give it our all!" Vicki exclaimed, as he and Katya were waiting for the show to start. "High five!"

"Um, I don't give high fives" Katya said sternly, leaving Vicki with her hand in the air. "Extensive familiarity can ruin discipline. I could shake your hand, if you want"

"Whatever" Vicki mumbled, taking the handshake nonetheless.

On the other side of the space behind the curtain, Rachel and Piper were also checking on their performers.

"Alright, you guys all got your outfits, all the equipment we need is here - I think we're set to go" Rachel declared, as she went from one performer to another.

"Where's Chris?" Kai wondered, checking his watch. "The show was supposed to start ten minutes ago"

Suddenly, the lights in the theater were dimmed and the doors burst opened, which got everyone's attention. A red carpet was then rolled out from behind the doors to cover the space between the two rows right up to the judges' desk. Chris, dressed in a black suit with a red tie slowly walked into the theatre with a smug look on his face.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, welcome your brilliant host for this evening - Chris McLean!" an unknown female voice said over the intercom.

The redshirts swarmed him from both sides and began taking pictures of him, the flashes of their cameras lighting up the darkened room. Chris was almost next to the desk, when suddenly he tripped over a crease on the carpet and fell, prompting gasps from the interns.

"Which one of you was responsible for laying the carpet?" Chris asked the interns in fury, as he got up, but no one answered. "Ugh, this will have to wait for the end of the challenge, but once I get the footage, that person is getting fed to the piranhas. Also, Billy," he continued, pointing to the camera, "tell the editing team to cut this part out"

"My name's Brenda" a female voice sounded from behind the camera.

"Anyway," Chris turned to the audience at home, as he approached the judges' desk. "Welcome all to the first and most likely last talent show in McLean High!"

"Of course that's the name of the school," Nate muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Today our two newly formed teams will showcase what they got by competing with each other in three performance categories - music and dance, athletics and miscellaneous! The team that wins in more categories will be declared the winner of this challenge. But first, we have to introduce the jury that will judge the performance of our students. The first is moi, your favorite host in the whole wide world!"

"The second," Chris continued, as Chef came up in a black suit with a blue tie and took the rightmost seat at the desk, "is my perennial cohost - Chef Hatchet!"

"These kids better show some real talent or else!" Chef exclaimed, before pulling out a meat cleaver, which led to a few terrified looks from the students, peeking out from backstage.

"Finally, our special guest for tonight," Chris resumed, "the last and arguably least judge is..."

Before Chris was able to finish, pink smoke rose from the judges' desk and out of it appeared none other than Blaineley, wearing a pink dress instead of usual red one.

"Blaineley Stacey Andrews O'Halloran!" she announced, standing atop the desk. "World renowned host, TV reporter, entertainer and fashion icon"

"As well as a former contestant on Total Drama, where Mildred competed for a whopping two episodes" Chris added with a smirk.

"It's Blaineley" the blonde corrected him, visibly irritated. "And may I add that those two episodes had some of the highest ratings in the history of this show"

"Who is this?" Luke asked his teammates, looking at Blaineley.

"No clue - probably some late 90s one hit wonder" Kim shrugged.

"Oh! I think I saw her in a toothpaste commercial!" Hailey exclaimed.

"Right, so would you please get off the table, so we can begin?" Chris asked with a glare, as Blaineley got down and took the leftmost seat. "Alright, let's begin, students! Our first category is music and dance, and we'll start with the Pesky Preps. Give a big round of applause to Vicki and Katya!"

The audience clapped, though due to most students being backstage, the applause sounded rather weak. Vicki and Katya stepped onto the stage, the former in a black and white suit and the latter in a black tutu. Vicki brought the bow to the strings of the violin and started playing a slow melody with her partner beginning to dance in a similarly classical manner. Katya kept gracefully moving to the music for a couple more seconds, until Vicki stopped playing the violin. The audience then tore their attention away from the ballerina to see that the violinist was now standing behind a synthesizer. Vicki moved her hand onto the keyboard and pushed a few keys at once, creating a brief, but powerful sound. That sound was followed by darkness, as the lights above the stage turned off, and the audience saw the gowns of the two performs glow neon blue, a shade not unlike Vicki's hair color. Then she began playing the violin at a much faster rate, adding different effects by pressing buttons on the synthesizer with her bow. Katya adjusted her movements accordingly, adding faster, bolder positions and twirls. She also incorporated some interpretive dancing into her routine to fit a more modern sound, turning her dance into a light show, as the neon lights on her tutu seemingly danced with her. Finally, after a minute or so of gradually increasing the pace, the performance reached its climax, reverting back to a slow violin melody, as Katya gracefully sat into the stage. Once the music fully stopped, much healthier applause could be heard from the audience and backstage.

"Awesome job, girls!" Martin shouted, standing up from his seat.

"It was pretty impressive, I have to admit" Damien remarked.

After the applause subsided, Vicki came up to Katya and pulled her into a bear hug.

"We did great!" the singer exclaimed, while her partner frowned at her.

"What are you...? *Sigh* Yes, yes we did" Katya said, slightly annoyed.

"Whoa, as the first performance, this set the bar way high, ladies" Chris said.

"Yes, when I came here, I expected to see beatboxing or target burping, but I guess Chris realized that casting in accordance with his own talent was a mistake" Blaineley remarked snidely, prompting a few giggles from the contestants.

"Right" Chris said, his eye twitching a little. "It seems Blaineley will actually enjoy her only gig this year"

Ignoring Blaineley's intense glare, Chris continued "Now I'll ask Vicki and Katya to sit in the audience, while we see what the Nerds have up their sleeves"

A white piano was rolled out onto the stage, before Kai and Rosa, in a black suit and a knee length dark blue dress respectively, walked out and sat next to each other at the large instrument. The lights in the hall faded, as a single spotlight shone on the two performers. Kai began to play a sweet slow melody.

 _"I thought this day would never come"_ he started singing, catching the jury off guard a bit.

 _"But here we stand in pain"_

 _"My heart is pounding like a drum"_

 _"Around us pouring rain"_ Kai's vocals were by no means perfect, but the relatively simple melody let him recite the lyrics without straining his voice.

 _"The summer passed too fast for us"_ Rosa took over, her shaky voice communicating her nerves to the audience.

 _"Our days were never warm,"_

 _"The pleasant breeze that filled our sails"_

 _"Became a thunderstorm"_ the melody then picked up the pace considerably, as the two joined forces in tackling the next verse.

 _"Saying goodbye is the best we can do"_

 _"Looking into your eyes, I know you see it too"_

 _"Collecting broken shards will only give us deeper wounds"_ the singers slowed down once more for the chorus.

 _"Let's say farewell"_ they began taking turns in singing the couplets.

 _"We know it's for the best"_

 _"My friend, farewell"_

 _"We both have failed this test"_

 _"It's farewell"_

 _"Now let our feelings rest"_

 _"Must say farewell"_

 _"Farewell"_ after a small pause, the two said the single word, looking at each other.

* * *

[Confessional]

Rosa: I certainly did not anticipate that I would be this nervous, but I have never attempted to publicly recite any of my works before. I do not have the slightest clue as to why Kai set his sights on a poem I wrote when I was thirteen and a very weak one at that, but I hope we did our team proud.

Greg: She was really beautiful and elegant there, like a real princess. And that only made me realize how dumb it was of me to even try. She needs someone sophisticated like Kai, not a big oaf who's only good for devouring hot dogs.

[End Confessional]

* * *

A round of applause sounded from the audience, as the lights brightened once more and the performers bowed.

"Cute" Vicki commented, "But that's no match for our awesome show"

"I have to be honest here - this was clearly just an attempt to get us emotional" Chris began sternly, before changing his tune and wiping off a tear. "And, boy, did it work! I hate to admit it, but this actually managed to soften my heart of stone for a moment there"

"Oh, come on - they could barely sing!" Vicki protested.

"Those imperfect vocals only added sincerity to the performance. The scrawny boy's nasal and almost monotonous delivery contrasted by the Goldilocks's trembling high pitch went with the song's message of being unable to cope with the differences to save their love" Chef monologued with unusual eloquence, as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Oh dear, this sure brings back memories," Blaineley began, wiping her slightly run makeup with a napkin. "I remember, when I started my grand ascent to nationwide fame, I was courted by a certain boy who just moved to the big city from a cold distant island. He was so sweet and charming and we ended up going on a few dates. But I guess it just didn't work out. Them's the breaks, kids"

"Yeah, it didn't work out because someone thought that the boy in question didn't pay enough attention to personal grooming!" Chris barked, glaring at the female judge. The students could only awkwardly keep waiting for the discussion to end.

"Well, now I know that the advice was taken, perhaps even too literally" Blaineley joked, frowning at Chris.

"Eh, I think it's time to tell them who won" Chef noticed, interfering with them.

"Exactly!" Chris quickly switched back to his host persona. "We will vote by holding up a sign with the emblem of the team we considered stronger, so..." he maintained a pause, before all three showed a sign with a blue outline of a smiling face of a teen with glasses and braces.

"What?" Vicki jumped up from her seat, as her teammates in the audience looked just as surprised.

"Can't go wrong with a classical romantic duet," Kai said with a smirk, as Rosa smiled at their success.

"Awesome!" Piper exclaimed, with her and Rachel exchanged high fives backstage.

"I can't believe those judges" Vicki sat back down, crossing her arms.

"Even though this means absolutely nothing, I thought we did great," Katya pointed out in her usual dry manner.

"Yeah!" Vicki exclaimed, cheered up a bit. "We were absolute rock stars there, sister!" she playfully punched Katya on the arm, though the latter's face remained rather unimpressed.

"Alright, let's now move on to the athletics section" Chris announced. "Hailey, it's your turn to potentially hilariously embarrass yourself for the benefit of our ratings"

"Ah, right!" Martin remembered, jumping up from his seat. "Damien, come on!"

"Ugh, I hate this" the other boy complained, before walking over to the stage, too.

Hailey leaped out onto the stage in a dark blue Japanese swordsman uniform with a katana in each of her hands. She then closed her eyes for a second before turning away from the audience and shouting "Start!"

Suddenly, a huge watermelon flew at her from behind the curtain, but she managed to use one of her swords to slice it in two in mid-air, which made the two halves fly in different directions. Then, she set her two swords parallel to each other and drew a half circle in the air, slicing the fruit into small pieces that flew right into the large bowls that Martin and Damien help up, as they stood in front of the stage.

"Wow" Vicki said, in awe of the performance.

"More!" Hailey shouted, before several smaller fruit and berries flew in her direction. She cut all of them with a single movement, with one half of each going to one of the two bowls. Then the performance picked up the pace. The fruit flew at Hailey faster and faster, but she still didn't miss a single one, using her two swords to reach every fruit, no matter how small. As the performance went on, the bowls in the boys' hands kept filling up. The camera cut between slow motion shots of Hailey cutting the fruit with various movements of the swords, before finally the assault stopped and two sold cherries flew out from behind the curtain. As they flew above the swordswoman, she leaned backwards and pointed her swords up, each grazing the cherries in a circular motion, making the tiny stones fall out, while the cherries themselves landed on top of the fruit salads that appeared in the bowls. Martin and Damien then set them on the judges' desk. As the performance came to an end, the audience and the jury all clapped.

"Hey, that's not fair - they're bribing those idiots" La protested.

"Calm down - calling the jury idiots isn't gonna help our case" Kai said dismissively.

"Oh, just in time for my new fruit only diet!" Blaineley said, as she tasted a strawberry.

"Were the donuts you were ordering when I called you fruit flavored, too?" Chris asked with a knowing smirk.

"Shut up!" Blaineley frowned, "And you better edit this part"

"Someone's ticked off" Chris smiled in response.

* * *

[Confessional]

Chef: If you think this is fiery, you haven't seen Chris interact with that new race show host. Boy, that's when the sparks fly so high, you think you was in a grill!

[End Confessional]

* * *

Chef coughed to interrupt them, "Good technique and props for creativity with the fruit"

"Yay, great job, you guys!" Hailey congratulated Martin and Damien.

"Yeah, you two really contributed a lot" Vicki remarked in a snarky manner.

"There's one thing, though," Hailey continued. "You were supposed to wear a waiter's outfit, too" she chided Damien, who was still wearing his usual grey suit.

"Sorry, it was too horrendous. There's only so much you can make me do by exercising brute force"

"Now, let's see what Nate has cooked up for us" Chris announced.

"If we win this, we win the whole thing - no pressure" Rachel reminded the skinny guy, before he went on stage, which made him roll his eyes.

Nate walked out onto the stage in his usual outfit, as his teammates had already set the table with a chessboard on it.

"Well, this is pretty underwhelming" Chris commented.

"So, my talent is playing super fast chess" Nate stated in a blunt fashion. "I can switch between two players to produce any outcome you want in less than a minute"

Chris yawned and Blaineley skeptically raised her eyebrow, both expecting Chef to pick the outcome for the boy to manufacture.

"I got a better idea," Chef declared, standing up from his judge seat. "How about you try to beat me in fast chess in less than three minutes and if you win, I'll vote for you over the sword girl," he suggested.

"Uhh, sure" Nate agreed after a moment of hesitation.

Chef walked onto the stage and sat across the table from the Nerds' team member. Chef picked the white pieces, while Nate decided to go with the black ones. Pushing his side of the chess clock, Chef made the first move with one of his pawns, before Nate quickly made his move. Most audience members could barely realize what was going on, as the two competitors made their moves so fast that they constantly hurt heard the sounds of the button being pushed on the clock and pieces moved around the board and removed from it. The number of pieces was quickly moving down, as the game progressed, but there were clearly more black pieces. Suddenly, as time came for Chef to make another move, he stalled for a bit, pondering his move, before finally moving a piece, which turned out to be a wrong move, as Nate swiftly removed it from the game, before declaring "Checkmate!"

"Huh?" Chef exclaimed in confusion, before seeing that the white king was indeed cornered by the several black pieces on the board. "And the time?"

"A minute and twenty five seconds" Nate announced, crossing his arms with a confident smirk, as he looked over to the clock

"Hmph, a loss is a loss" Chef said, still a tad disappointed. "I'll keep my promise - my vote is yours, string bean. Chris, Blaineley?"

The two were still busy sticking their forks into the fruit, before they realized the cameras were filming. They then both held up signs that showed a red outline of a teen with slicked back hair and a smug look on his face to symbolize the Preps.

"Whoo-hoo! That's right - who's the MVP now?" Hailey boasted, as she high fives Martin. "No more crazy Hailey trying to eat through wood - crazy Hailey has two swords now!" she then started making rapid slicing motions with her katanas.

"Chef, do confiscate the weapons from her, please" Chris asked his sidekick.

"Well, if it counts as anything, I think you did good, kid" Chef said to Nate, before moving over to the audience. Nate then cracked a small smile.

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: There's something weirdly satisfying in being praised by a deranged cross dressing military cook with anger issues.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"This is getting too close for comfort," Kai noted, before standing up from his seat and hurrying over backstage.

"The score is one all, which means it all comes down to the last ultimate death round!" Chris announced in a faux-epic fashion. "Aka the elegantly named miscellaneous category. The Preps are up first"

On the left side of the stage, Kim in a simple white dress stood on top of what seemed to be a small table with a few fake metal spikes set on its edges. Luke was standing next to it in a blue medieval garment.

"Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" Kim began in a melodramatic fashion, each "Romeo" louder and more tear-felt than the last, as the threw her arms up to the sky.

"Oh no" Martin quietly muttered to himself in the audience.

* * *

[Confessional]

Martin: To be honest, I was so caught up with the competition between Katya and Vicki and helping Hailey, I kinda forgot about these two.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Uh... but soft, what light through yonder..." Luke began unsurely, before getting interrupted.

"'Tis I, the fairest Juliet, the sun rising in the east, your lady and your love!" Kim stated with her arms crossed. "The stars shine in my eyes and a rose by any other name would still be nothing compared to me!"

"Now, you, Romeo," she continues, "Are the prisoner of your name. If only you were not Romeo, but a Ben or a Sam or a Bob, we could've lived happily ever after. Oh, the cruel world!"

"Oh blessed, blessed night" Luke resumed again.

"But we can fix the trouble with your name, if you should marry me" Kim announced. "And until then, goodnight"

"So thrive my soul..." Luke began reciting.

"Oh, Romeo, you said so much as is - goodnight it is" Kim raised her palm to her forehead, as she started to back away from the improvised balcony, and exiting the stage.

"My love..." he kept going, as he chased after her.

"Go to sleep!" she shouted in response, before the lights dimmed and everything went quiet for a moment.

In the audience, Vicki raised her eyebrow at Martin "Please, don't tell me you approved of this"

Suddenly, Kim came out from the right side of the stage in a shorter pink dress, as a Christmas tree with presents underneath it was set nearby.

"Oh, Christmas time is the best!" she said, poorly imitating a child and sounding more like someone who inhaled helium, while jumping around the tree. "You get all these presents and you can eat sweets! Look at all of these - aren't I just the luckiest? My favorite gift is this tiny wooden soldier," she continued with a forced smile, pointing at the toy. "My godfather might be a creepy old man that smells like mothballs, but he gives the best presents"

A sound of a striking clock was then heard and someone leaped out from behind the curtain in a huge mouse costume with a crown on their head.

"I am the mighty Mouse King and I shall bite the head off your wooden friend," the person in the costume declared, revealing it to be Luke.

"Ew" Kim said without any emotion in her voice, before taking off her slipper at throwing it at Luke, hitting him in the face.

"Ah!" he shouted, backing away a little, but Kim picked up her slipper and started beating the "King" up, before they both disappeared behind the curtain.

A few seconds later, the red curtain was opened entirely and behind it sat Kim in a geisha costume with a sword in her hand. A few steps behind her stood Luke, also dressed as a geisha, with a baby doll in his hands.

"Plagiarism!" Hailey stood up from her seat and shouted.

"Uh, Hailey, she's on our team" Martin pointed out.

After briefly glaring at Hailey, Kim began "How could he? How could my husband run away from me and marry another? I even named my child Trouble, hoping to change it when he comes back" she fake cried, placing her hand near her heart. "Now what do I call him?"

"No, there's only one way to fix this" she suddenly changed her demeanor, clenching her sword. "I brought great dishonor onto the family name. I went against the warrior code and must pay the price"

"No, please, wait!" Luke exclaimed, trying to make his voice high-pitched.

"What is it, Suzuki? Give me a single reason not to do this"

"This" Luke said calmly, as he pushed a button on the back of the toy, and it produced a sound akin to passing gas, which received weird looks from the audience.

Luke panicked a bit and started pushing random buttons on the baby, causing him to burp and sneeze, before he accidentally dropped the baby face down on the floor. The correct button was pushed on impact and the baby doll started crying.

"Huh?" Kim gasped, as she looked at the doll and then lowered her head. A moment later, she lifted it back up to reveal the same running mascara as during the rehearsals. The camera then showed "Suzuki" picking up the baby doll, both of them also looking into the camera with mascara on their face. Then, the curtain closed, but no applause followed. Rather, the looks on the faces of the judges and the audience conveyed only confusion.

Kim and Luke came out onto the stage in their regular clothing.

"I think we don't have to waste time with the Nerds' performance, since the winner is apparent" Kim exclaimed.

"That was certainly different," Chris said, raising his eyebrow.

"The costume changes were impressive, but that's about it," Blaineley stated. "This might be the worst acting I've ever seen - and I've watched Chris's older movies"

As the audience snickered at her comment, Kim balled her first and turned to her partner, "Ugh, this is all your fault! I knew a rookie like you would only ruin everything!" She then stormed off to take a seat far away from the rest of her team. Luke simply walked over to the audience.

* * *

[Confessional]

Luke: Annoying as she is, arguing with her won't give us anything. Plus, chances are she's going home tonight, anyway.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Vicki" Martin said to the team captain. "I thought it'd be best to give them artistic freedom and just concentrated on others"

"No excuses - it was your responsibility" Katya chides him.

"Dude, we're royally screwed now" Vicki put her head in her hands.

* * *

Meanwhile, backstage, Molly was dressed in an orange leotard with ornaments resembling flames and looking down at the floor.

"Is everything alright?" Piper asked her, "You will be up soon"

"Uh, yeah, I am just a little nervous - I've never really performed before judges or anything" Molly answered, shaking a little.

"It will be fine" Rachel reassured her, as she put her hand on the young scientist's shoulder. "The other team was horrible, anyway"

"Uh-huh" Molly said, still just as nervous.

"Look, I am pretty sure we can still send out Drew, if we hurry up" Kai suggested, standing a tad farther from the girls.

"No-no, it's fine - I can do it," Molly protested meekly.

"Oh come on, you're shaking and you're not even on stage yet!" he said in a frustrated tone.

"Maybe he has a..." Piper began only to get cut off.

"No way!" Rachel exclaimed. "I believe in Molly. If she wants to perform and thinks she can do it, we have to let her try"

"Who cares if she wants to do it?!" Kai shouted at her, "I want to fly - doesn't mean I can, though. This could cost us the challenge!"

"Now, we'll move on to the last performance of the day - Molly for the Nerds!" Chris's words interrupted their argument. "Will she be able to top Kim and Luke's, uh, theatrics?"

The lights turned off for a few moments, before coming back on and showing a tightrope stretched from one side of the stage to the other. On top of a stepladder that led to one side was Molly in her tracksuit with four torches in her hands. She used a lighter to quickly light them all up and began juggling them. She then took the first step onto the tightrope, which wiggled a bit under her and made her almost lose balance, as she began waving her hands around. This prompted gasps from the audience, but Molly recovered and caught the torches, before taking a deep breath and resuming. She took another step, then another, growing in confidence. At the same time, she kept up her juggling, which thanks to the still dim lights, proved quite a sight. The flames dancing with each other painted a beautiful picture and, taken aback by the beauty, many didn't notice Molly getting almost halfway through the tightrope. Her teammates started applauding her, which made Molly look into the audience with a smile on her face. However, that huge smile suddenly disappeared, when she noticed the jury sitting at their desk in the front row. The nerdette's body completely tensed up and her eyes got filled with tears, which made it hard to see. Because of that, she completely miscalculated her next step and lost her balance, and after a few seconds of struggling, she ended up falling off the tightrope and onto the stage. She fell with a loud thump and the impact with the floor made her lose consciousness. The torches she was holding rolled next to the curtains, causing a fire to start, which made everyone gasp in horror.

"Oh no, somebody do something!" Blaineley screamed, as her and Chris embraced each other instinctively.

"Interns!" the host shouted, but the interns all quickly ran out of the theater.

* * *

[Confessional]

Blaineley: Ugh, I can't believe I agreed to come to McLean's second-rate show again. That fire could've killed us! Also, why do I have to talk to my dear fans, while sitting in a janitor's closet? Where's my private dressing room?

[End Confessional]

* * *

Meanwhile, a large portion of the curtain burned away, showing the panicking trio of Kai, Rachel and Piper trapped backstage.

"We need to get out of here!" Kim shouted.

"No way!" Nate protested. "We gotta help Piper! Oh, and the other three"

Martin quickly broke the glass box on one of the walls, and took out a fire extinguisher, but when he directed it towards the stage, nothing came out.

"Where's the foam?!" he asked in panic.

"Uh, we might have forgotten to check if any of them were full when we rented the building" Chris stated.

As the teens kept running around, looking for something to put out the fire, suddenly a huge jet of water doused the entire stage. Everyone turned around to see Chef with a huge water gun, who managed to extinguish the fire within a few seconds.

The curtains were now completely charred and filled with holes, while the four teens on stage ended up soaked.

"Nice job, Chef!" Chris began. "Good thing you always keep your supplies nearby" Chef nodded and put his water gun inside his jacket.

"Now for the results," the host resumed. "I didn't think I'd say this, but the winners of this round are Kim and Luke, which means the Pesky Preps win today's challenge!" the announcement was met by cheers from the Preps.

"Alright!" Vicki high-fived Martin. "The Deluxe Suit is ours!"

"Yes, and you also won't have to eliminate anyone" Chris added.

"No need to thank me" Kim commented with a smirk.

"Wait, but their performance was horrible," Rachel said, "You said so yourself!"

"It was, but they didn't start a fire and ruin school property," the host answered angrily. "So, you Nerds, better start deciding who you'll be sending home, because we'll start the elimination ceremony in just an hour. Meanwhile, it's time for us to call in Blaineley's ride"

"Finally, can't wait to get out of this pathetic excuse for a show" the socialite rolled her eyes, as she left the theater with Chris and Chef.

The teens stood in silence for a few moments, before Molly stood up from the floor and looked around, rubbing her forehead.

"What happened?" she asked, squinting her eyes.

"You made us lose - that's what happened" Kai answered with a frown.

"Hey!" Rachel yelled at him, when Molly started crying.

"I'm so sorry, you guys!" she cried out, before running out of the room.

"What's wrong with you?" Rachel scolded Kai and ran after the girl.

* * *

[Confessional]

Damien: It seems the people I pick as my allies could not stop messing up, if their life depended on it.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"There she goes again, leaving her team to coddle Molly" Kai remained stoic, as he spoke, stopping his gaze on Piper. "I told you Molly couldn't do it from the very beginning, but Rachel kept insisting on it. Do you people still think she's a fitting leader?"

After his words, the Nerds looked at each other unsurely, before Piper walked off the stage and out of the room.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: Rachel has to go. From the time she bugged me about sabotaging one of the other teams on day one, I realized she was a weak competitor. She thinks a competition for a million bucks is a good place to let people fulfill their childhood dreams, and she just sabotaged her entire team.

Rachel: I don't care what Kai thinks - I refuse to be a tyrant. Yes, perhaps today didn't go the way we wanted it to, but I hope my team understands that we need harmony and it's best to cut the one who constantly goes against the team.

[End Confessional]

* * *

Piper was sitting in the library, taken by her thoughts, when suddenly someone threw her an apple. After she barely caught it, she saw that it was Nate.

"Hey" she said with a weak smile.

"Hi, I figured you'd come here" he smiled back. "Are you worried about the elimination?"

"Yeah" Piper admitted. "What are the others thinking?"

"Well, Kai has been pretty adamant about getting Rachel out and that's pretty much all he's been saying since the challenge ended. The guys seem convinced, but Rosa left a while ago - I think she isn't quite sure. Molly and Rachel have been missing this whole time. It seems pretty split"

"I feel responsible," she said, propping her chin on her knees. "Rachel and Kai were both trying to steer the team to the right direction, but it was actually my job! I was supposed to be the leader and I completely failed. I was just too indecisive, and now one of my teammates will be eliminated"

"Wait, but..." Nate was about to interject.

"It should be me!" Piper yelled out. "I should just go to Chris and say I'm quitting!" she stood up and was about to run out, when Nate stopped her.

"No way! You can't do that!" he shouted at her, raising his voice for the first time. "You never chose to be the leader, so it was never your responsibility. You shouldn't feel sorry about anything," he continued sternly. "And besides, if both Kai and Rachel stay, they'll keep pulling us in different directions"

"But still, what do we do now?" she asked, calming down a little.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to prove you can make decisions" Nate told her. "I'll vote with you no matter who you pick"

Piper sighed and looked down at the floor, before the intercom in the library came to life.

"Dear losers, it's time to bid one of you adieu. Assemble in the Elimination Hall, pronto"

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: Will it be super lame if I say that I haven't cared about something or someone so much in a long while?

Piper: It was pretty awesome of Nate to have my back at a time like this. *sigh* But I still have to pick someone to vote off. Kai might have a point, but Rachel has been so kind to me... and everyone really!

[End Confessional]

* * *

The Nefarious Nerds all assembled in the Elimination Hall and took their seats on the bleachers. Chris was already standing at the platform, but didn't start talking yet.

"What's with the holdup? Don't go rushing us, if you'll make us wait anyway" Drew complained as La.

"Just a couple more moments" Chris said with a smile, before he saw someone walk up. "Ah, there we go!"

Chef got onto the stage, carrying Blaineley, who was all tied up, and put her next to the giant boot.

"Let me go, you ogre! McLean, what is the meaning of all this?!" she demanded.

"You see, Mildred, we called a taxi for you, but it didn't arrive, and since we would hate to make you stay here longer than you're contractually obligated to, we decided to take it upon ourselves to send you off" Chris explained with a grin on his face.

"What are you trying to pull, McLea-ahhhhhhhhh!" she tried to ask, before the Kick of Shame sent her flying.

"Yes!" Chris exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "That's what you get for calling me a bad actor, you witch with a dye job!"

As the teens looked at him in confusion, Chris went back to the podium, "Now that she's out of the way, it's time for one of you to follow in her footsteps. To vote against your teammate, just stamp their file in the voting booth. Our resident arson enthusiast is up first," he concluded with a frown, as Molly stood up.

* * *

[Voting booth]

Molly: *sniffles* I am so embarrassed of myself, I completely messed everything up! But still, Rachel was the only one who consoled me after all this, which means she is really a nice person. *sniffles* But Kai was really mean to me today and that's why I'm voting against him *stamps* Why can't all boys be more like Damien?

Greg: Today was a complete mess, but the performance Kai came up with was the only one that gave us points, so it'd be unfair to vote him off. And he was right about Molly. Sorry, Rachel *stamps*

Drew: *as La* If this so-called leader picked us from the very start, none of this would've happened *stamps*

Rosa: Kai was in disagreement with the rest of the team the entire day, so I feel he might not fit into our troupe. Plus, Rachel is so compassionate and kind, I can't bring myself to vote her off *stamps*

Piper: *holds up her own file* I really want to stamp this one *sighs and puts it down* I can't let our team fall apart *stamps*

[End Voting booth]

* * *

"You've all cast your votes and it's time to see who you think of as the weakest link" Chris began, as Chef approached him with a plate of scrolls. "Those of you who get these diplomas are safe and the one sorry loser who ends up without one will be kicked out of the school. Excited?"

"Only that today's over" Nate said in a dry tone.

"Tell me about it" Molly told him, still sniffling.

"Okay, the first diploma goes to the only person who did nothing to contribute to your loser status" Chris announced "Rosa!" the girl caught her diploma with a smile.

"Drew and Greg - you two didn't do a whole lot, but all things considered, that was probably for the better" he threw the boys their diplomas.

"Nate" the boy caught his diploma effortlessly.

"Now you four all played a hand in your team's demise" Chris smirked at the remaining teens.

"Molly, your performance was by far the worst of the entire talent show, not to mention that you destroyed our theater" he raised his voice at the last part. "So..."

"Yes" the girl said with a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry to say you're still in" he threw her the diploma with a frown. "But our accounting team will mail your family the check for those curtains"

"Kai" Chris called out, as the boy smiles contently. "Can you believe no one voted against Piper?" the host threw a diploma at her. "Such a horrible team leader, and yet everyone voted for you and Rachel"

The two glared at each other, before Chris continued.

"Looks like the rest of the team is sick of your constant fighting and decided to cut one of you lose. Any ideas who that might be?" the host asked, before the two pointed at each other. "That's what I thought. The last diploma goes to..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Kai" Chris finally said.

"N-no!" Rachel exclaimed with a shocked expression on her face.

"Nothing surprising, you're too weak a leader - anyone can see it," Kai said, as Chris threw him a diploma, but Rachel caught it instead and threw it at the boy's face. "Real mature"

"Oh no, Rachel!" Molly came up to her. "I can't believe you're going!"

"You were indeed so kind to all of us," Rosa added, with tears forming in her eyes.

"Thanks, girls" Rachel smiled, as she gave them hugs. Just then, she noticed Piper looking down, while sitting in the corner. "Hey, Piper!"

"Yeah?" the girl answered with a sad look in her eyes.

"Don't sweat it" Rachel said with a smile. "I may not be a master hacker, but I can do basic math" still smiling, she then waved at Piper.

Rachel then made her way to the giant boot and put her hands in her pockets, "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, guys. Fire away, Chris"

"With pleasure!" the host exclaimed, as the Kick of Shame sent Rachel flying. As her screams faded, Piper sighed once again.

"And so, there were fourteen!" Chris announced. "But how long will that last? Tune in next time to find out on Total Drama School Life!"

* * *

 _Hi, guys! I know this chapter took a bit longer, but I hope you like it. The chapter itself is also longer than usual, which probably has to do with the type of the challenge. Regarding the intro in the beginning of every chapter, I promise that I'll describe the opening theme in one of the upcoming chapters and then just reference back to it. I'd also really love to know what you guys thought about the new teams, the challenge, and most importantly, the dramatic elimination. Oh, and the fabulous cameo, of course. So, please consider leaving a review and letting me know. Here are the individual votes:_

 _Rachel - 4 votes (Drew, Greg, Kai, Nate, Piper)_

 _Kai - 3 votes (Molly, Rachel, Rosa)_

 _Alrighty then, I think that's all I had to say, so thanks so much for reading and see ya next chapter!_


	4. Ch 4: Advanced Truancy

**Chapter 4: Advanced Truancy**

"Last time on Total Drama School Life," the host began the recap, "Our students regrouped once more before showing what they're made of in the toughest talent show ever. With the help of Chef and a certain once relevant TV host that shall remain unnamed, yours truly made it through bum notes, horrible acting and destruction of school property to crown the Pesky Preps as winners. In the end, Rachel and Kai's power struggle sent the former packing and affirmed the latter's status as the real leader of the Nerds." Chris stood in the schoolyard and was getting ready to hit a ball with his golf club, as a male intern stood by a hole nearby. "Who will be the next student on a one way flight to Loserville? Find out here on Total Drama School Life!" he exclaimed, before flinging the ball, which ended up hitting the intern's crotch, making him wince in pain.

[Intro]

"Same dorm, same bed" Drew said with a sigh, before dropping on his bed. "I haven't been to the Winners' Quarters even once! It seems like every day this bed gets more uncomfortable"

"Wow, you must really be tired," Nate answered, taking a seat on the bed under Drew's. "You're not even impersonating your characters. A few more losses and you might actually lose that stupid gimmick"

"He's right, though," Kai said, as Drew grew daggers at his bunkmate. "The three of us are the only ones who've never made it out of here. And you know why?"

"Because we haven't won a challenge yet?" Nate deadpanned.

"Because we've had horrible leadership"

"Yeah, we know, Rachel was a bad leader, you've said that a dozen times" Nate cut him off. "She's gone, so you can give it a rest already"

"It's not just her," Kai continued, "If our assigned team leader actually acted like one, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with"

"Hey, that's true!" Drew exclaimed as La, "If Piper picked me for the show, we would've totally won"

"Anything besides almost burning the theater to the ground would have won against whatever Kim was doing" Greg said, lying down on his bed.

"Exactly" Kai nodded.

"For the record, she never asked to be the team leader," Nate frowned, before rolling over and grumpily continuing, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to keep silent, so I can call it a day"

* * *

[Confessional]

Piper: *sighs* Voting Rachel out was super tough. I still feel like I betrayed a friend, but I had to do it for our team. Plus, I think everyone realizes it was for the better.

[End of Confessional]

* * *

"Why-y-y-y?" Molly wailed, sitting on her bed. "Why did you do that, Piper?"

"Well, I..." the computer nerd began sheepishly.

"After all Rachel did for us, you just threw her under the bus!" Molly cut her off, still in tears. "How could you support the guy who did everything to embarrass me over her?"

"Please, do not beat yourself up over this" Rosa said, as she put her hand on the inventor's shoulder, "Rachel would wish for us to continue"

"Molly, I didn't want this, either," Piper tried to reason, "but Kai was right about..."

The girl suddenly realized what she was about to say, as Molly glared at her intensely and Rosa started shaking her head.

"...well, you know," Piper resumed cautiously, "your whole performance thing"

Molly gasped and began wailing even louder, before running off to the bathroom, "I knew it! You think it's my fault we lost! You're the worst team captain eve-e-e-er!"

"No, she did not mean to say that!" Rosa said, running after her crying teammate. Her eyes round like saucers, Piper just lied down and pulled a blanket over her head.

* * *

"Three in a row!" Hailey exclaimed, as she jumped up from her bed in the Winners' Quarters. "I'm never leaving this place!"

"You can thank me for that," Kim said, as she sat on the edge of a nearby bed with a mirror in her hand. "My amazing acting scored you losers a victory"

After a moment of silence, Vicki and Hailey started laughing. They seemed to stop for a moment only to resume again, as Kim gave them a death glare.

"Wow, good one," Vicki said, gasping for air, "Though if those stupid judges actually did their jobs, there wouldn't be a third round in the first place"

"I highly doubt that," Kim said, still glaring. "And try harder to mask your obvious jealousy, you three talentless bit-"

"Ladies," her words were interrupted by Damien, as he knocked on the bedroom door. "May I speak to Katya?"

"Fine," she said, walking over to the door, "but do it quick, I have to keep up my sleep schedule"

"What could that be about?" Vicki asked, her eyebrow raised in suspicion, as Katya walked out. "I swear something about this guy ticks me off"

"Oh, whatever, I'm just glad the witch is gone," Kim rolled her eyes, before imitating the ballerina's accent, "I am Katya, I look like giraffe and I talk like man. Now get to work!"

"You're such a meanie! Why are you always insulting people?" Hailey chided her.

"Yeah, Kat's a weird chick, I'll admit that, but that was uncalled for," Vicki frowned. "And you never talk behind a sister's back"

"Are we in a sorority now?" Kim asked sarcastically, lying down. "Ugh, how many more episodes of this do I have to endure?"

* * *

[Confessional]

Vicki: Kim's obviously insecure and she thinks she can feel better about herself by putting everyone else down. I used to hate on more popular DJs when I only started for the same reason and trust me - it never works.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"I have to say I'm quite impressed by your abilities, Katya" Damien began, sitting on the couch in the common area with a glass of juice in his hand. Everyone else was already in bed, so the two were alone. "You're a formidable competitor. Physical prowess, bright intellect, strong morale"

"Get to the point" Katya said sternly, standing next to him.

"With all that in your disposal, you would prove very useful to me," the rich guy continued. "And so, I decided to so generously extend to you an invitation to join my alliance"

"No, thanks" she replied with little enthusiasm.

"Yes, it truly is an honor for you, my generosity stuns even..." Damien continued, before realizing what the girl's answer was and jumping up. "What?"

"I'm not interested," Katya insisted, "Are you done?"

"Don't misunderstand me, it won't just be the two of us!" Damien protested, "I have already managed to make Molly my loyal servant!"

"Right, the girl who sets stuff on fire" Katya said in a bored fine, walking away, "I give her another week, until her team votes her off"

"Ah, I-I, you, how" Damien stuttered, watching her go.

* * *

[Confessional]

Damien: I can't believe it! She refused even after all my platitudes! And I never give anyone platitudes! *crosses arms* No one has ever said "no" to me, so I don't take no for an answer. She will be in my alliance, I swear on it! That said, I am proud of taking my first rejection like a true man.

[End Confessional]

* * *

The camera showed Damien in the common area, shouting like a madman and throwing the TV out of a window.

* * *

The next morning, as everyone headed to the cafeteria, Martin caught up to Greg near the school building.

"So, how are things going, man?" the tanned boy asked.

"Well, I'm still here" Greg deadpanned with a little smile.

"I see your spirits are raised at least," Martin smiled back, "But I meant to ask about Rosa"

"There's nothing to say-" he was about to say before letting out a shout, as Hailey suddenly jumped out of the bush right next to the school entrance with a scream, clearly trying to startle the boys.

"What the-?" Martin winced, before both boys closed their eyes. "Hailey, p-pants"

"Huh?" the athlete looked down to discover that her pants were around her ankles. "Whoopsies!"

"What were you doing there?" Greg asked incredulously.

"Long story" Hailey shrugged it off, while putting her pants back on. "Anyway, so what about you and Rosa?

"Nothing," Greg said with a frown, as the three entered the school building. "She made it clear that she doesn't care about me, so I should do the same"

"Like, tricking her into getting her face smashed with a wooden door?" Hailey asked, "Hmm, I guess that was how Kenny and I met. He totally broke my nose on his first day in the dojo, and I broke his in response. As well as his jaw. And left elbow. And both kneecaps. After the guy got out of the hospital, he said he needed space. Can you believe it? Guys are always so indecisive, like, what am I to you, dude?"

"Right. So what are you going to do now?" Martin asked his larger friend after a brief pause.

"I'll just have to ignore her for a while and the feelings are bound to go away" Greg said with a bit more confidence. "Right?"

"I don't know, man" Martin said, as they walked through cafeteria doors.

"Bacon!" Hailey shouted, as she jumped to her seat at the winners' table and reached for the plate with porky treasure.

"Uh-uh-uh" the host's voice sounded nearby, as the three students saw Chris standing near the entrance to the cafeteria. "Loving your enthusiasm, Hailey, but you can only start breakfast once everyone arrives"

"Where's Kim?" Martin inquired about their missing teammate, as he sat next to his disappointed friend, before looking across the table to see Vicki acting fidgety. "Are you okay?"

"She just needs to use the bathroom" Katya explained, once she realized Vicki couldn't reply. "Kim was in there the whole morning, so we couldn't go"

"Why don't you just go to the bathroom now?" Luke asked the team captain.

"I tried - Chris won't let us leave until Miss Fashionista gets here" Vicki said, visibly in pain. "And the only bathroom in school in on third floor for some reason"

"Ha! You should've just gone au naturel like me" Hailey bragged.

"I am a well known DJ, I don't want footage of me peeing in the bushes shown on national television" Vicki barked, before turning to Katya. "Also, how are you okay? You haven't peed since yesterday either"

"That's nothing" Katya stated. "Back in Russia, they wouldn't let us eat, drink, sleep or use the toilet before we managed to perform the ballet routine perfectly. Once me and five other girls couldn't get it right for a week. I was the only survivor"

"Greg!" Piper called the boy over to the losers' table, prying him away from the rival team's shenanigans.

"Oh, morning, guys" he said, approaching his six teammates.

"I have an announcement to make" the hacker proclaimed, as she stood from her seat. "I resign as team captain!"

This earned her some surprised looks, before she continued, "I believe there is someone more fitting for this role, and that's Kai," she motioned at the boy to her right.

"Wise decision" he commented, before standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to take some grub we are forced to call food"

"Seriously?" Greg asked, looking at Piper, as the preppy boy left.

"That is quite distressing" Rosa remarked.

"So you're telling us to take orders from that talking raisin?" Drew asked as La.

"Oh my gosh! What is wrong with you?" Molly challenged, standing up from her seat. "You must really be hellbent on sabotaging our team! Why can't you just be a leader and lead?

"Sabotage?" Piper asked in shock. "I just thought that-"

"You guys need to get your heads checked" Nate interjected. "First, you say she's a bad leader and now you hate it when she steps down!"

* * *

[Confessional]

Drew: Nate actually cares about someone or something, huh. *as Lu* Isn't it just adowable?

Molly: Piper is so useless! Instead of taking responsibility for her horrible actions yesterday, she just hands the team to that jerk Kai! She is so getting eliminated next time we lose.

Kai: That was a pleasant surprise. Yesterday, I talked with the guys about Piper because I thought I had to get rid of her to become captain, but turns out she has enough self awareness to see her own complete incompetence. Time for this team to start winning.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"And here comes the bride!" Chris announced, before glaring at Kim, as she walked into the room. "Finally"

"Sorry, sweetie, but I had to take my time in the shower" Kim remarked, sitting down. "I'm fully exfoliated"

"You little-" Vicki shouted, as she lunged towards her pampered teammate, Katya and Luke forced to hold her back.

"Calm down!" Chris shouted, attracting everyone's attention. "Not that I don't appreciate a good cat fight, but we have more pressing issues at hand. It's time for another challenge!"

"Let me guess - you aren't gonna let us have breakfast before it's over, and you only called us here to make it worse" Kai asked with a frown.

"Yeah, that's exactly the kind of lame crap you'd pull" Drew agreed as La.

"Guys, guys, who am I to you?" Chris asked innocently, "Some sort of evil dictator?", to which all the students nodded. "Come on, I would never deprive you of breakfast. Take your time, the challenge will start after you're full"

The students all eyed him suspiciously before looking intensely at the food, not daring to take a bite.

"Ugh, fine, let's try a different approach" Chris said, dropping his smile. "Anyone who doesn't eat something within the next ten seconds is out of the game!"

Unwilling to be booted for something this small, the teens began digging in.

"It's still yummy!" Hailey exclaimed after stuffing her mouth with bacon.

"Even Chef's horrible mush tastes almost tolerable today" Greg noted. "Maybe we're all just paranoid"

The moment he finished saying it, all contestants fell backwards and fell asleep, as Chris began laughing maniacally.

"Tricking newbies just never gets old!" he said, rubbing his palms. "Oh well, Chef, time to get to work"

* * *

The students were all lying on the floor, when Hailey slowly raised her head and looked around.

"Hey, guys, where the heck are we?" she asked in confusion, before staring at her reflection on the well-scrubbed floor, "Oh, this floor is so shiny!"

"We're in the gym" Kai stated, as everyone else woke up as well.

"Correct! And this gym is exactly where your next challenge will begin" Chris announced, approaching the campers, "Get up, students! Chop-chop! It's time to get excited to send another one of you flying home!"

"What's your obsession with putting us to sleep?" Martin asked, as the students slowly rose to their feet, many rubbing their sore arms and legs.

"We needed some time to set up the challenge," the host explained, "and it's also pretty fun"

"That train of thought seems very unhealthy" Drew said as Lu in a worried tone.

"Let's begin then," Chris ignored the teen's remarks, only to get interrupted again.

"Excuse me, Chris, but can I just quickly run to the bathroom before we start?" Vicki asked, squinting and rubbing her thighs together.

"Sorry, Vick, we're on a tight schedule" the host quickly pointed out, before continuing "See, normally the only way out of this school is by getting kicked to the curb by our majestic boot, but today your challenge will be to find another one. Your task will be to cut class!"

"You mean, like... to escape?" Molly asked apprehensively.

"As if this whole experience didn't resemble imprisonment already" Nate deadpanned.

"There's a secret escape path on each of the three floors of the school for you to find, and once someone uses it unsuccessfully, no one can go through it again" Chris resumed the explanation, "The first person to successfully make it out of the school building wins the challenge for their team"

"Escape path? We can just use the front door to get out, duh!" Kim said matter-of-factly.

"Feel free to try," the host replied, "but as a friendly tip, all regular doors and windows are unusable. We want you to work hard to stay in the game, so there's no way we'd leave a loophole like that.

"Speaking of difficulty," he continued, "simply having you run around in search of an exit is too easy and frankly boring to watch, so since skipping school comes with consequences in the outside world, you will also have to avoid getting caught..."

"By Miss Hatchet and her trusty red ink pen!" as Chris announced it, Chef burst through the gym doors in a button up white shirt and a knee length dark grey pencil skirt. On his head was a bun on grey hair and he wore a pair of grandma glasses on a chain. In his hands he was holding a seemingly regular ballpoint pen as if it were a gun.

"Yeah, we're so scared of Chef in his librarian outfit" Drew said as La, while everyone else laughed, "Oh no! He might tell us to keep quiet"

Chef glared at the contestants before pressing the tip of his pen, which made it grow to the size of a machine gun. He then quickly twisted it and out came a huge stream of red ink, which hit the wall near the students, leaving a huge splatter. This quickly shut down the contestants' laughter.

"If Miss Hatchet hits you with her red ink, you've been caught and are out of the challenge" Chris stated. "Questions?"

"What if everyone gets caught?" Katya asked to clarify.

"In case all of you prove to be even more loser-esque that we thought, the last person caught by Chef will win the challenge for their team"

"If everything's clear, we're ready to begin" Chris concluded. "Chef?"

The large man suddenly pulled a smoke bomb out of his skirt pocket and threw it on the ground. Within moments, the whole gym was enveloped in smoke, as the students began coughing.

"Hunting season starts now, suckers!" Chef roared, as he started randomly blasting red ink from his pen, his words drowned out by the students' screams.

"Where's the exit?" Molly shouted through the smoke.

"I can't see anything!" came Luke's voice.

"If anyone steps on my designer shoes, they're dead!" Kim yelled.

The contestants kept running around like madmen, trying to stay out of Chef's ink blasts, which didn't show a sign of stopping.

"Preps, we have to stick together!" Martin shouted, before he finally managed to make out the silhouette of the gym door. "Quick, follow my voice, I'll get you guys out of here!"

Martin's strategy seemed to be working, as he saw a few figures approaching, only to be disappointed to see they weren't his teammates.

"Thank you so much!" Drew thanked him genuinely as Lu, as him, Kai and Molly ran past Martin and out the door.

"Nice work helping the enemy" Katya chided him, before seeing most of their team running towards them. "Okay, quick, move it!"

"Wait, shouldn't we make sure everyone gets out?" Martin asked.

"They'll be fine" the ballerina said, pushing him out of the door.

"I can see the gates of freedom ahead!" Rosa announced, her teammates Greg, Nate and Piper running a bit behind her. "Let us make haste!"

Then, the foursome noticed Chef hot on their heels, aiming his pen. He quickly twisted the odd weapon and a blast of red ink hit Piper's back, making her fall over.

"Piper!" Nate stopped, considering going back to check on her, before Greg yanked him away just in time to barely avoid getting shot by Chef.

Narrowly avoiding a few blasts, the two boys managed to follow Rosa out of the gym.

"Alright! Well, wasn't that exciting?" Chris sounded off through the intercom to all the contestants, as they stood shaken just outside the gym. "There have already been losses, so to give you a chance to regroup, you'll get a five minute head start on Miss Hatchet. Use it wisely!"

"Team meeting!" Kai announced, "Everyone follow me!"

He led the remaining five players around the corner and opened the door to one of the classrooms.

"Okay, we need strategy for the challenge" Katya said, after the Nerds went into the classroom. "And I have a plan"

"That's exactly what makes you such a valuable teammate!" Damien exclaimed with a forced smile, which was followed by a few weird glances from his teammates. "And no matter what that plan is, you can expect me to give 110%! Victory will be ours!"

"Right" Katya rolled her eyes.

* * *

[Confessional]

Damien: A master manipulator has to tweak his strategy according to his prey. Katya seems to care a lot about winning challenges, so I have to show her I'm a strong competitor to convince her to join my alliance"

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Chef probably expects us to explore this floor," the ballerina resumed, "so we should focus on the first and second floors. We should also split up to cover more ground"

"Sounds good" Martin said, before turning to Vicki, "What does the captain say?"

The singer, however, seemed to stare at nothing in particular, while biting her lip, and gave no response.

"Uh, Vicki?" Martin asked again. "Is something wrong?"

"What?" she snapped out, before squinting and pressing her knees together, barely forcing out words. "Yeah! Great plan, Kat! Let's split up and get out of here as fast as possible"

"Seriously, just go to the bathroom!" Kim yelled at her.

"That might not be a good idea" Katya said, "We can't just wait for her to finish and she could get caught by Chef when searching for us"

"Exactly, and besides it shouldn't take that long" Vicki stated dismissively, "I already know where to look on the second floor. Kat, wanna tag along?"

"Fine" the girl said calmly, "Anyone else?"

"I believe I can be of use, ladies" Damien answered, as Katya shrugged.

"Good, then the rest of us will look for an exit on the first floor" Martin said.

"No way are you making me go with that nut job" Kim said, pointing to Hailey. "I'll go with you three"

"What's your problem?" Hailey asked.

"I don't want you to get claustrophobic around me again. Sorry, but I'm too pretty to die"

"You really need to start learning how to follow orders" Katya was about to start scolding her, but was interrupted.

"Oh, whatever" Vicki said, shifting her weight from one leg to another. "Let's just go already!"

"Alright, me, Hailey and Luke will cover the first floor" Martin corrected himself. "Wait, where's Luke?"

The six students looked around and noticed that the ginger was nowhere to be seen.

"Perhaps, he got hit by Chef in the gym" Damien shrugged. "Honestly, I barely notice his presence to begin with"

"No time to waste, let's go!" Katya said, as the Preps made their way down the stairs.

* * *

"I swear that chick was about to piss herself, and a cat fight almost broke out between Prom Brat and Karate Kid" Drew recapped as La, standing in front of his teammates in the classroom.

"Ugh, for the fourth time, Drew, I don't care about any of that crap" Kai griped, his palm on his forehead. "What was their plan?"

"Holding it in is really bad for your health, you know" Drew switched to Lu, prompting Kai to bury his head deeper in his hands. "It can lead to really nasty diseases later on in life"

"Dude, did they go downstairs?" Greg asked, running up to him and gripping him by the shoulders.

"Uh, yes. Wait, no! No, yes! Definitely yes!" Drew stuttered.

"The people I have to deal with for a million bucks" Kai muttered to himself. "Next time, you'll be on spy duty, Nate", the lanky teen, however, didn't show any reaction. "Earth to Nate"

"You guys think she's okay?" he asked, looking at the door.

"Who's she?" Kai asked.

"Piper!"

"She's fine" Greg assured him, "It's just ink. If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much. And I sure hope you don't expect her to feel the same if something happens to you"

The big guy said the last few words quite bitterly, which puzzled Nate a bit.

"Alright, since they apparently went downstairs, we should stay here, so we don't end up fighting over exits" the new captain resumed, as he opened the door and walked out, his teammates following closely behind "Now all we have to do is find one"

"I can help with that" Molly said, as she took a small cylindrical device from her pocket, which started projecting what looked like blueprints. "My newest invention has the map of the entire school building, so we'll be able to track all the places we've already checked"

"Wow, that's actually pretty helpful of you" Kai said, a bit surprised. "Not bad"

"Do you think we should entertain the idea of forming distinct squadrons to search for the exit?" Rosa asked.

"Splitting up would help us cover more ground... but it could also make us more vulnerable, plus we only have one map" Kai explained, going a few steps forward, "For now I say we stick together-"

He was suddenly interrupted by seeing a drop of red liquid fall on the floor between him and the other Nerds. All of them looked up to see Chef hanging just under the ceiling, ink slowly spilling from his now diminished pen stuck in his bun.

"And the students' head start is up!" Chris announced via intercom.

The large man then dropped onto the floor and once again turned his pen into a gun, separating team captain from the rest. He aimed his weapon at Kai, as the boy was too shocked to run away, as were his teammates.

In a moment, however, Chef turned around and shot the first person he saw on the other side, which was Molly, who fell down from the intense stream and dropped her device.

"Detention time!" Chef yelled, as he tried to blast the other four teens, barely missing.

"Quick!" Greg rushed his teammates along, as Drew hastily picked up Molly's map.

Chef didn't chase them, instead directing his attention back at Kai, who was running through the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Not so fast, kid!" Chef shouted, rapidly shortening the distance between them, before he managed to grab the teen by his sleeve. "Any last words?"

As the master of the kitchen took aim, Kai noticed that they were standing next to a doorway, and opened it in panic, slamming it into Chef's face, prompting the man to fall to the floor. He remained unconscious for a few moments, which gave the student a chance to escape. Desperate to hide somewhere, Kai quickly barged into the gym, which the students left minutes ago.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: So much for sticking together *sighs* Well, at least, Chef probably won't check the gym, so I can wait it out for a while.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Phew, that was way too close" Kai remarked, as he leaned against a wall. He then turned his attention to a duffel bag, lying a few steps away, filled to the brim and twitching a little.

"You gotta be kidding!" the teen said, approaching the bag, "How did you even get here so fast? Fine, just spray me with that ink already, I'm over this"

No response came, so he tried kicking it a little, which prompted a few pained noises. Kai then decided to quickly open the zip in the hopes of jumping away if it really turned out to be Chef. As he opened it however, inside he saw Luke, and the surprise made both boys scream.

"What the hell are you doing in there?!" Kai asked, after he fell back.

* * *

Meanwhile, Martin and Hailey walked into the swimming pool on the first floor.

"Do you have any idea what an escape path would look like?" Hailey asked her teammate.

"Uh, probably something inconspicuous" he replied, but Hailey just raised her eyebrow. "You know, mundane", still no change in Hailey's demeanor.

"Like, something very ordinary" Martin tried again.

"Oh, I got it!" Hailey said running up to a window, "How about getting out through here?"

"But Chris said-"

"He said we can't open them, he didn't say we can't break'em"

"Wait!" Martin said to no avail, as Hailey pushed her fist into the glass with all her might. The window didn't give in at all, but the girl's fist was now bright red, as she yelled out a monstrous cry, holding her injured hand.

"*Bleep*! This *bleep* window in this *bleep* pool completely *bleep* turned my *bleep* hand into *bleep*! *Bleep* this school, *bleep* this challenge, *bleep* Chef, *bleep* Cana-" Hailey started shouting profanities, before suddenly calming down, "Oh, it's all better now. I'm fine, Martin!"

Her teammate just stood in complete shock, unable to muster a response.

"Hey, uh, you think Chef heard that?" the athlete asked, to which her friend just nodded. Then, they heard loud footsteps approaching.

"Oh man, should we hide under the bleachers?" Martin asked unsurely.

"No time!" Hailey yelled, before pushing him into the pool and diving in herself.

Chef entered the room, the weapon in his hands. He looked around and sniffed a couple times, but ultimately closed the door and moved on. Seconds later, the students surfaced.

"Good thinking" Martin commended his teammate. "I owe you a favor, though I guess he wouldn't come here if it weren't for you"

Hailey paid little attention to his words, as she submerged her face for a few moments. "Hey, there's some sort of a big cap at the bottom of this thing. Maybe we can drain all the water and then go through the pipes"

"Wow, that's... actually a very good idea" Martin said, surprised by the girl's detailed plan. "This might be the escape route of this floor"

"What escape route?" Hailey scratched her head. "Oh no, I just always wanted to know where these pipes go. I got into a bet with the guys at the dojo that the pipes go into the ground, where a more advanced civilization uses our poop to create military robots. I'm totally about to become a 20 bucks-ionnaire!"

"Alright, let's try to open it" Martin said, taken aback by the other student's response.

They dove underwater and approached a large white cap, which they then tried to open. After a few seconds of struggling, the cap came off and the two contestants smiled at each other. Suddenly, however, they felt themselves getting sucked in along with the water. Despite their attempts at swimming away, both of them got sucked in within moments, the stream of water taking them away.

* * *

"Come on, guys, hurry up!" Vicki shouted from the cafeteria, skipping from place to place and looking up, as her three companions struggled to catch up.

"Ugh, chill, not all of us are powered by threat of leakage" Kim spat, as the threesome entered the canteen, at which Vicki glared.

"Why are you so sure the exit's here?" Damien asked.

"It's not here, it's in the kitchen. Follow me, but we gotta be careful - we're right in the lion's den"

"Then, why are you so sure that the exit's in the kitchen?"

"The chimney, duh" Vicki said confidently, as she opened the door to the kitchen and pointed to it with her outstretched palm.

"Are you sure we'll fit?" Katya asked skeptically.

"Don't worry, these pipes that are built to let out air always have enough room for adult humans for some reason" Vicki assured her.

"I'll never understand Western planning" the blonde said with a puzzled look.

Vicki managed to open the grate of the kitchen hood, which let out a cloud of soot, making the students cough.

"While I would love to go into that dirty, hot, narrow chimney to help us win, some of us should probably stay here, just in case your hunch is wrong and Chef decides to visit" Damien proposed.

"That's true" the captain said, "Kat, you're super slim, so you can follow me, while you two stay here and watch the door"

"But how are we going to climb up?" Katya asked, before Vicki jumped up into the chimney and held to what looked like a tiny handrail.

"See, I told you it's user-friendly! Come on!"

"Either this really is a way out, or this school was built by idiots" Damien commented, as the two girls began their ascent.

"Don't take too long, I'm getting bored" Kim shouted, filing her nails.

About a minute later, the girls were climbing up at a steady pace, sweating bullets.

"Oh, I don't do well in heat, that's my only weakness" Katya said between deep breaths.

"Hey, I think I can see sunlight!" Vicki exclaimed to the girl below her. "Yes! Just a few more steps and I can use the bathroom. Er, I mean, we win the challenge!"

More and more light started seeping into the chimney, as epic victorious music started playing until it suddenly went completely dark and the music stopped.

"What the heck?" Vicki asked, as the girls stopped dead in their tracks. After a few moments of silence, a flashlight was suddenly turned on, and in the darkness, they saw Chef wearing a Santa hat right in front of them.

"Ho ho ho, maggots!"

Vicki let out a piercing scream out of sheer surprise, before the sound of drizzling liquid filled the cramped space

"They really don't pay me enough for this" Chef muttered, after an awkward silence.

* * *

[Confessional]

Katya: *puts on a poker face before cracking up* Okay, that was funny.

[End Confessional]

* * *

The girls yelled out, as they fell on the kitchen stove, completely covered in red ink.

"Oh no, red is totally not my color!" Kim shrieked, "I'm getting out of here!"

"It's detention time!" Chef yelled, as his head popped out of the hood and he aimed his weapon at the two not yet fallen Preps.

"Move it!" Damien shouted, as he pushed Kim out of his way and ran to the door, her following closely behind. Chef's ink hit the kitchen door instead.

* * *

"I figured that if I hid when Chef started blasting us, he wouldn't bother to check after everyone else ran off" Luke explained, as him and Kai sat against the gym wall.

"Good thinking," Kai commended him, "but now that you're fine, shouldn't you try to find an exit? You're not just abandoning your team, are you?"

"Abandoning them? No, I-I looked around the gym to see if the exit's here, but it's not" the ginger said unsurely, "I was going to go somewhere else, but then I remembered that Chris said the last non-blasted student would win-"

"So you thought Chef wouldn't expect someone to stay here. Smart, but what if one of my teammates does manage to escape?"

"Based on what I've seen, that's not very likely"

"You know what, I might actually stay here in the gym for a while, too" the tanned boy announced with a smile.

"Wait, weren't you trying to convince me to leave a moment ago?" Luke asked, before pausing, "That was your plan, wasn't it?"

"Heh, based on what *I* have seen," Kai began, "anyone making it out of the school is highly unlikely. Seems like it will boil down to me vs you vs Chef. Let the quickest man that can fit into a duffel bag win, I guess" Kai's quip made Luke let out a particularly high pitched giggle.

Luke quickly covered his mouth with his hand, now laughing at his own weird giggle, as the other boy raised his eyebrow, before snickering.

"Right, so that's where I knew you from"

"Huh?"

* * *

[Confessional]

Luke: Crap, I should've just left *brings his palm to his forehead*

[End Confessional]

* * *

"You're the summer camp kid, right?" Kai asked.

"Huh?"

"We went to the same summer camp when we were kids. You're the guy who got dunked in the outhouse, aren't you?"

"What? Sorry, you seem to-"

"Now that I think about it, the guy's name *was* Luke. It was this weird laugh that got you bullied, and the fact that you looked very nerdy"

Luke, still stunned by the sudden revelation, muttered "I didn't expect you to remember so much"

"It'd be hard to forget - you've been everyone's main target for three months. They threw you into the lake when you were sleeping, broke your glasses and then broke the ones your parents sent to replace them, forced you to go into the girl's bathroom" Kai reminisced.

"Yeah, good times!" Luke blurted out awkwardly, before rapidly changing the topic. "How long do you think it'll be before there's only two of us left?"

"I'd say half an hour" the other boy said after a brief pause.

* * *

After a few moments of pipe surfing, Martin and Hailey surfaced in another body of water. The boy was struggling to catch his breath.

"We really should've taken the time it'd take to get here into consideration" he said, breathing heavily. "I almost drowned down there"

"Really?" Hailey asked in a surprised manner. "Our teachers tell us that a true martial artist should be able to hold his breath for at least ten minutes and they send us to the boys bathroom in the dojo to train"

"Uh, Hailey?" Martin cut her off and pointed at their surroundings. They were in a pond almost entirely covered by water lilies, and around the pond were many trees and bushes, some of which were in bloom.

"Dude, we won!" Hailey exclaimed, as she jumped out of the water, "We didn't just get out of the school, we made it all the way to Hawaii!" The girl then started running straight through the woods with her arms up and a huge smile on her face, until she suddenly collided with a huge shut window.

"Yeah, I think we're still in school" Martin said, catching up with her, as she slid down the glass. "This looks like an artificial biome"

"Look at that thing!" Hailey shouted, as she ran over to a humongous tree further away from the window. Its roots seemed to extend across the entire biome and its trunk was wider than both teens combined. "There are so many vines hanging from its branches!"

As Hailey kept admiring the huge tree, Martin spotted something a couple dozen steps in front of them - another window, but this one did not have a view of the outside of the school building, but that of ordinary white walls instead. There was a glass door nearby.

"So, it is a biome," he concluded, as he walked through it and spotted a control panel. "You can monitor the garden and control a bunch of stuff from this panel. Heat, humidity, amount of sunlight, even minerals within the soil. The science behind this thing is amazing," he talked, as he looked attentively at the display and the buttons on the panel, as his teammate was swinging on the vines from one side of the garden to another, striking various poses and at two points being surrounded by butterflies and sharing the vine with tiny monkeys.

Suddenly, the two heard a knock on the door and Martin ran back into the garden, both of them managing to hide behind the large tree just before the door creaked open and someone walked in. Their footsteps were heard tapping on the concrete floor, before turning into rustling of the grass, as they entered the garden. The rustling inched closer and closer, as Hailey and Martin exchanged nervous glances. The former then spotted a shovel laying near the tree and took it in her hands with a firm grip.

"Eat this!" she shouted, as the person approached their hiding spot, striking them square in the face, which made them let out a scream.

"Wow, didn't expect you to have such a girly scream, Chef" Hailey mocked, before opening her eyes and seeing not Chef, but Kim who was now on the ground covering her face with her hands with Damien right behind her with a wide-eyed expression on his face. "Whoopsies"

The rich guy looked at Kim and started snickering. "Nice swing" he commented.

"You stupid b****!" Kim shouted, her messy hair covering her face, as she stood up and lunged towards her, only narrowly restrained by Martin.

"Sorry, I though you were Chef" Hailey explained, "No need to make a big deal-" she then abruptly stopped talking when hair got blown off Kim's face, and just stared at the girl.

"What?" Kim asked, giving her a weird look, before turning to the boys. "What's that broad's problem?"

Martin and Damien, however, had the same look on their faces.

"Oh, what is it?" she asked, rolling her eyes, before turning to the pond and seeing that her face was now completely red and swollen, as if she were bitten by a hundred bees. "My faaaace!"

* * *

[Confessional]

Kim: This is it! This Hailey chick is going down. And Chris better cut the scenes where I look like this or I'm suing this show for reputation damage!

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Oh, you're dead now!" Kim shouted.

"Look, I think we can-" Hailey was about to say, before the shovel she still held in her hand hit something in the ground, which produced a metallic sound. The four then saw an "X" painted in red over a portion of the soil.

"Are we supposed to dig here?" Martin asked. His words prompted Hailey to start digging in the dirt with her shovel, and in a few seconds she discovered a grey metal surface.

"Perhaps, this is a tunnel" Damien proposed.

"Doesn't it seem a bit too good to be true?" Martin scratched his head.

"I agree, Chef could be waiting for us in that tunnel" Damien said, "He waited in the chimney, which is how he got Katya and our leaky captain"

The camera then showed the tunnel under the garden.

"Dammit" Chef said, hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel dressed as a huge green worm.

"Then, how about we dig a bit away from the X, but in the same direction?" Martin suggested. "I'll get us some more shovels from the stack over there!"

"Digging around in the dirt" Kim deadpanned, "This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"

"The faster we get to digging, the faster this day is over" Martin told her, as he gave her and the other two their shovels.

"Ugh, whatever" she rolled her eyes, as the other three began digging.

* * *

The remaining Nerds were all in a room with grey walls and a wooden floor. In front of a large whiteboard were three rows of tables with personal computers, each of which had a tag with a number stuck to it.

"Wow, these computers look about my age" Greg pointed out, as he walked between rows.

Rosa looked up at the projector and pushed one of its buttons, bringing it to life. In a moment, a huge face of Chris got projected onto the whiteboard.

"Oh my!" the aspiring writer gasped, looking at the image.

"Well, this is certainly creepy" Drew commented as La, before switching to his more innocent alter-ego, "You can just feel the intense negative energy coming from the image"

"I don't think there's anything here we can use to escape" Nate stated. "All the shelves in this place are filled with electric cords" he added, pulling out a huge bundle of black, white and grey cables.

"Yeah, let's move our asses somewhere else" La said, as the teens walked out of the computer lab.

"Where shall we head next?" Rosa asked.

"We have looked at every classroom on this floor" Greg replied, a sense of frustration clear in his voice, "There wasn't anything that looked like an escape route"

"There are still those bathrooms" Nate pointed at the two doors at the end of the hall near the stairs. "We should probably check them to make sure"

The foursome approached the white bathroom doors, one with a male figure on it and the other with a female.

"We should split into two groups; each will cover one of the bathrooms and tell the other group if they find something" Greg suggested.

"So, who goes where?" Nate asked.

"Well, I'm not going into the chicks bathroom!" La objected quickly, "Lu, you do it"

"Oh no, going into the girls' bathrooms is too embarrassing! I wouldn't do such a shameful thing" Lu pushed back, "Plus, I heard you can get girl germs by going there"

"Wait, does that mean you're actually... a guy?" La asked in shock.

"I'm just in touch with my sensitive side, La. You're always so mean to me, big bro!"

"We're related?"

"I could simply investigate the ladies' room on my own, but to tell you the truth, I am positively terrified of encountering Chef there" Rosa admitted. "Gregory, would you accompany me?"

"Me? Uh,..." Greg asked in surprise.

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: I really don't want to make her go on her own, but I'll never move on, if I keep spending time with her. Plus, it's not like her opinion of me can get much worse, anyway.

Rosa: This challenge is incredibly nerve-racking, but I am comforted by the presence of lovely Gregory with us. He has proven himself such a gentleman and a remarkable leader!

[End Confessional]

* * *

"The girls bathroom?" Greg began in an exaggeratedly disgusted manner, "Gross! There's no way I'm going in there. Disgusting, that's what it is!" Rosa looked taken aback by his words.

"Seriously?" Nate raised his eyebrow at the two other guys. "And I thought I was immature. Fine, I'll go with Rosa then"

The two duos then split up and walked through their respective doors. Greg and Drew started looking around the male bathroom, which was a narrow room with faucets to the left and stalls to the right. Opposite of the door was a small window. Drew charged to the window, trying to open it to no avail.

"And surprise-surprise! It's shut, too" he remarked as La, before changing to Lu, and beginning to wail. "We will all die in this school! There's just no way out!"

"The exit has to be here somewhere" Greg reassured him, "Chris said there is one on every floor"

"But what would lead from a bathroom to outside the building?" Lu pondered, before both of them turned to the stall. They slowly opened the door and walked into a space, barely large enough to fit both of them.

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Greg suggested, as both of them warily looked into the toilet bowl. Greg threw rock, only to be defeated by his teammate's paper.

"Ha! Always choose Paper! It's the most underrated one, but then it comes out and flushes your opponent down the toilet!" La bragged.

Greg sighed, before slowly putting his foot into the water and pushing it deeper. "Oh s***, it's too cold!"

"Come on, dude, you can't chicken out now! We need this win!" La yelled.

"Wait, I can't push my leg any further, it doesn't seem to fit" Greg said, "I'm starting to feel like this isn't the exit"

"It has to be, that's the only option left" La dismissed his words. "Wait, let me help"

"What?" Greg asked, before Drew started pushing down on his shoulders, trying to fit his leg into the toilet tunnel. Greg started yelling, "Stop! You'll break my leg!"

"We need to win this thing!"

"I don't caaaaare! I need my leg!"

"Hey, guys" someone knocked on the door of the stall and Nate's voice came from the other side of it. "We found a fire exit"

"Wow, good work, you two!" Lu exclaimed, as he walked out of the stall. "I'll give both of you some of my cookies after this"

"You coming?" Nate asked Greg.

"Yeah, um, I think I might be stuck" the boy answered, struggling to get his foot from the toilet. "Can you-?"

"Tell Chris to get you when we escape?" Lu finished his sentence. "Of course, we would never leave a teammate behind! Let's go fast, Nate, we need to send help to Greg!"

The two ran out, leaving Greg alone and stuck.

"Or you could just help me yourselves!" he yelled out to no avail.

* * *

The boys ran into the girls' bathroom, where Rosa was waiting by the door that had "fire exit" written over it.

"Where's Gregory?"

"He, uh, had to use the bathroom" Nate told her, "Anyway, time to get out!",

He pushed the door open and they saw the school's yard beneath the red fire escape ladder the found themselves.

"We are one step away from victory!" Rosa said happily. "We only have to go down this rusty ladder"

Rosa ran in the front with the two boys behind her. As they reached the outside of the second floor, however, Chef jumped out the window onto the ladder and aimed his pen at the Nerds.

"Go back!" Drew shouted as La, and they started sprinting back up the ladder.

Chef started shooting ink at the campers, hitting Rosa in the back. Drew and Nate used the distraction to quickly duck back into the bathroom.

Chef barged in moments later, only to be greeted by several rolls of toilet paper flying at his face, which did not faze him in the slightest.

"Anything else we can throw?" Nate asked his teammate, who then noticed a soap dispenser, and tried to frantically take it off the wall. Despite him pulling with all his might, the only result he got was the dispenser squeezing out a tiny amount of soap.

Chef then aimed his weapon and fired at both boys, getting Drew drenched in red ink. Just as he was about to get hit, Nate quickly opened the stall door, which took the shot for him. As Chef jumped over Drew who was lying on the ground, he saw Nate run into the boys' bathroom and chased after him.

Nate quickly made his way to the farthest stall from the entrance and locked the door, catching his breath.

"Wow, that was fast!" a voice came from behind him, startling him. "Oh, please tell me we won't have to amputate"

Nate turned around to see Greg, still trying to pull his leg out of the toilet.

"Shhh, it's me! Chef is after me, so shush!" Nate explained quickly.

"What happened to the-" Greg was about to ask, when the door to the bathroom opened with a bang.

"You didn't think you could get away, did you, maggot?" Chef shouted.

Both boys froze in place, as they heard Chef walking around the bathroom. He first came up to the closest door to the entrance and broke the door only to see there was no one there.

"Quickly!" Nate whispered, "Get your legs, uh, leg off the floor"

He first jumped onto Greg's back, clinging onto him with both arms and legs, making the other boy wince under his weight.

"Are you here?" Chef asked, now breaking the second stall's door.

Greg then barely pulled up his non-stuck leg and managed to place it on the toilet seat, which made his body, along with Nate clinging to it, bend over.

Chef tried the handle of their stall's door only to discover that it was locked.

"Looks like I found you" Chef said with a smile. "You wanna make this easy and just unlock the door?"

Nate and Greg looked at each other, unable to make a sound.

"Okay, I guess we'll do it the hard way!" Chef blasted a stream of ink right above the boys' heads, making them scream out. The co-host started slamming his body into the door, trying to break in.

"Aaaaaah" both boys yelled, as the door seemed to start creaking and giving in.

* * *

"Arghhhh, these teammates are driving me insane" Kai complained, still in the gym, as he was now playing ball with Luke. "They're the laziest, most incompetent, least productive deadweights I've ever had to deal with"

"Wow, tell me how you really feel" Luke said, as he threw the ball back to the other boy.

"Surely you understand what I'm talking about" Kai stated, "at the end of the day, you had to do that horrible acting performance with Kim"

"Yeah" the other boy said, scratching the back of his head.

"Can't believe you let them humiliate you like that"

"Well, I was taking one for the team," Luke explained, "And besides, Kim scares me a little"

Kai laughed a little, before saying "Chef is really taking his time, huh?"

"Some team captain you are - leaving your team and hiding here"

"I'm not their babysitter, and it's just some ink, they'll be fine" Kai said dismissively.

* * *

Back in the bathroom, Nate and Greg were still screaming their heads off, while Chef tried to open the stall door.

"One more time and the door's gone" Chef said, smiling. "And then you two are dead!"

"Ah, wait!" Greg exclaimed happily. "My leg isn't stuck anymore", he pulled his leg out, which was followed by a loud sound from the toilet.

Chef finally knocked down the door, but was quickly blown back by a huge surge of water, coming from the formerly clogged toilet. As he fell back, the door landed on him and the boys landed on the door, before quickly running out of the bathroom.

"Here!" Greg yelled, opening the door to the computer lab.

After both of them ran in, they looked out of the glass that covered the upper part of the door. To their surprise, Chef didn't chase after them, but instead went down the stairs.

"Well, that's convenient" Nate said with a smile.

"He just knows that we'll have to go downstairs to get out, since you couldn't use the fire exit" Greg said skeptically.

"Will we?" Nate asked. "I think I have an idea"

Nate walked over to one of the computer tables and took the many wires stacked there.

"So, um, Rosa... was she hit too hard?" Greg asked.

"Sorry, I was kind of busy trying to run away. She should be fine" Nate answered, before looking at the pile of wires in his arms, "Let's go"

* * *

The Preps kept digging in the garden - albeit, at different paces. Martin and Hailey were digging with all their might, Damien wasn't straining himself as much and Kim not at all.

"Okay, I think it's deep enough for some of us to get in and dig from there"

"We'd be outside by now, if someone actually bothered to help us" Hailey glared at Kim, who was staring at her hand mirror. "You've been looking at your reflection nonstop for the past twenty minutes!"

"Excuse you?! I can't believe you dare to say something to me, after maiming my face!" Kim yelled at her teammate.

"Okay, your face hurts, whatever. That has happened to me a billion times during training. Take care of it later!"

"Well, fyi, some of us aren't used to getting our face smashed in" Kim barked back.

"How about you ladies go into the tunnel? We need a break from the constant bickering" Damien pointed out.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Kim asked him in an incredulous tone.

"The hole is still too small for Damien or me to squeeze through" Martin said. "Come on, we will all have to get in there eventually"

Despite huffing and puffing, Kim followed Hailey into the tunnel on her fours.

"We have to pick up the pace" Martin resumed digging, after they got in. "We have no idea if the other team is ahead"

Suddenly, a huge stream of red ink shot him square in the chest, making him fall on his back and cover a part of the entrance to the tunnel with his body. Chef then dropped from one of the trees and started approaching Damien.

"Okay, well done, Chef" Damien said with a sheepish smile, as he dropped his shovel and started slowly walking back. "You win. I admit that, so there's no real need for the ink, right?"

The cook snickered, before saying, "Sorry, kid, them's the rules!" and blasting him, making him fall back.

"Oh, crap" Kim whispered and quickly pulled Martin's body in a way that would cover the entire hole. The two girls then heard Chef's footsteps slowly fade away.

"Good thing I thought of that, huh, knucklehead?" Kim teased her teammate, after breathing a sigh of relief. No reply followed, however, as Hailey just stared at her blankly. "Um, earth to freak show?"

"Let. Me. Out" Hailey said in a calm, but threatening manner, before going over to the entrance and trying to remove Martin's body that covered it. "I. Need. Air!"

"No, you idiot!" Kim struggled to hold her back. "Chef will find out that we're here - I don't want any ink in my hair!" before Hailey turned around and brought her shovel to Kim's throat, as the latter's eyes widened.

"Then dig" she commanded in a dark tone, to which Kim just gulped and started quickly digging in the opposite direction.

* * *

[Confessional]

Kim: Ugh, why does this keep happening?

[End Confessional]

* * *

"The elimination room?" Greg asked, as he followed Nate to the stage. "How are we supposed to get out from here?"

"The skylight" Nate pointed out calmly, as he sat down on the stage and started tying the electrical cords together.

"But shouldn't it be closed?" Greg asked, before realizing the answer himself. "Oh, right, the intern broke it on the first ceremony. Good thinking!"

"Yeah, but I'll need your help" Nate said. "I will need you to try and throw the loop of this improvised rope at the window handle"

"Sure, dude, but it might take a couple tries" the musician said. "Hey, once we get to the roof, will we be able to see the fire ladder? Just to see if..." he continued a bit apprehensively.

"If Rosa is alright?" Nate asked with a grin, almost finishing his work on tying the cords. "Sure, but she probably got back inside the school already. And besides, I hope you don't expect her to feel the same"

"Look, sorry" Greg sighed. "It was a pretty lame thing to say. It's just that I had a crush on her, but that went sour. And it's harder to stop caring than I thought. I know it's dumb - we barely know each other"

"Eh, doesn't seem all that dumb," Nate commented, handing the bigger guy the makeshift rope. "Let's see your best throw"

Greg started swinging the rope and threw it upwards, but barely missed the handle. It took him a couple more attempts, until it finally landed. "You go first"

Nate pulled on the rope a couple times to ensure its safety, before beginning to climb up, Greg following suit. They made it most of the way there, before they heard the door to the elimination room burst open. Chef walked inside with his pen-gun.

"Found ya, suckers" he announced, "Any last words?"

"Hurry up!" Greg shouted at Nate, as both of them picked up the pace. The moment he said these words, he was covered in ink and let go of the rope, falling to the ground. Chef took a few shots at Nate, but ended up missing, before he returned the gun to its pen form and started climbing.

In a few seconds, Nate climbed out of the skylight onto the roof.

"Well, Chris, I'm here!" he shouted, "I won!"

"No way!" Chris's voice sounded off. "The roof is still part of the building!"

"Crap" Nate muttered, before he saw Chef climbing out of the skylight. He started walking back, until he finally had nowhere to go and looked down.

"You ran a good game, kid" Chef commended him, "But it's time to give up"

Nate looked behind him again.

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: So, obviously, the logical thing to do would be to just give up, but if I do, we'll lose and based on what happened this morning, Piper will probably get eliminated. That's the last thing I want right now.

[End Confessional]

* * *

As Chef was aiming, Nate suddenly jumped off the roof, taking him by surprise. He went over to the edge and saw Nate barely holding on to the flag that hung slightly lower.

"Phew" Nate sighed in relief, before he looked down and saw Chris and all the eliminated contestants look up at him. "Don't tell me the flag..."

"Is also a part of the school building!" Chris finished with a smile. "Kinda looks like you're trapped, my dude!"

Chef once again aimed his ink gun at the boy. Right as he was about to blast, Nate jumped off, making everyone below him gasp.

"Nate!" Piper cried out, as she saw him fall.

As he was moments away from touching the ground, it shook slightly and Kim climbed out, utterly exhausted. Within a second, Nate landed right on top of her. Hailey then threw both of them aside, and exclaimed, "Freedom!"

"Wait," she came back to her senses, "Does that mean we won?"

"No," Chris crossed his arms, "Nate won the moment he let go of the flag, which was before you two climbed out"

"But he didn't use the escape path!" Vicki protested.

"I never said you had to," Chris pointed out, "And besides, neither did Kim and Hailey. They were supposed to use the designated tunnel, not dig their own"

"Man," the Preps' captain said in frustration.

"Looks like our former teammate packs more of a punch than we could imagine" Damien commented to Katya, as both of them eyed Nate. The rich guy and the ballerina then exchanged glances.

"Bottom line - the Nefarious Nerds win!" Chris announced, making the present Nerds cheer. "Pesky Preps, I'll see you at the elimination ceremony tonight"

"Seriously? After all my sacrifices, we still didn't win?" Kim asked, as she dusted herself off, before turning to Hailey. "Time to pack your bags, sweetie. You are so going home for going mad and making me dig on my own"

"It's the clusterphobia!" Hailey said, jumbling the letters. "What am I supposed to do? And it's not like you were even trying most of the challenge - you should be voted out for being a horrible teammate!"

"How dare you!"

"Oh, by the way," Chris resumed, before grabbing his loudspeaker to notify those still in the school building, "Yo, resident book club, you can come out already. The challenge's over!"

* * *

[Confessional]

Kai: Well, the plan to just hide didn't exactly work, but we won anyway, so no problem. I'm still a great captain.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"I was missing the whole challenge," Luke said with head hung, as Kai and him walked down the school hall. "I might be on the chopping block"

The two boys then walked out to see Kim and Hailey arguing, barely held back by Vicki and Martin respectively to avoid a physical fight.

"Something tells me you'll be fine" Kai reassured him.

* * *

The sun was setting, painting the sky in beautiful shades of red, orange and purple. Most contestants were resting in their dorms, but two boys were chatting on a bench in the schoolyard.

"You sure you're okay now?" Greg asked Nate, who was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, Kim was quite effective at cushioning the fall," Nate said, "Chef just performed a regular checkup at the nurse's office and said I was fine"

"How did that go?"

"Well, he wore a wig and was dressed like a nurse, so I guess now there's more incentive to never get sick here," Nate joked, drawing a small laughter from the drummer, "How come you're not hanging out with Martin and Hailey?"

"They're getting ready for the elimination ceremony" Greg answered, before sighing, "I hope Hailey doesn't get the boot tonight"

"Eh, I think she'll be fine - Kim is annoying as hell, so they'll probably vote her out"

"Thanks for hearing me out during the challenge, by the way" Greg said after a small pause.

"Meh, I didn't really have a choice - I'd be blasted by Chef if I left the room" Nate said with a grin, making Greg laugh a little. "But you're welcome, I guess"

"Nathan, Gregory!" they heard their names, as Rosa came up to them. "Could it be that you are also here to admire the majestic rays emanating from the setting sun?"

"It's Nate and, yeah, I guess you could say that" the nerdy boy said, not paying her much attention.

"I, uh, just realized I have to go to bed early today" Greg quickly stood from the bench and started walking in the direction of the dorms.

"Gregory, halt, please!" Rosa ran over in front of him. "I have something to say to you"

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" the boy asked, trying not to look at her.

"I'm afraid not" she said sternly. "Gregory, I have felt great sorrow for the time I partook in fooling you. Though it was just to succeed in one of Chris's wicked tasks, it must've brought you much pain"

As Rosa talked, Greg looked at her with a surprised expression.

"And for that," she resumed, "I apologize. I certainly hope we can still be friends in spite of this"

"Uh," Greg was momentarily at a loss for words, "Y-Yeah, totally!"

"Oh, how wonderfully kind you are, Gregory!" Rosa exclaimed with a bright smile, "I promise to never again break your trust!"

She then ran off, as Greg kept standing in the same spot and watched her disappear.

"Ouch, dude" Nate said, still sitting on the bench, "Sorry for that"

"What are you talking about?" Greg turned to him with a huge smile. "That confirms it - she doesn't hate me!"

"Why'd you ever think that?" the other boy said in surprise. "And don't be so happy - she totally friendzoned you!"

"Hell no!" Greg refuted him, "She just called me her friend, which means there's a shot! To evolve from her boy friend to her boyfriend!"

"Dude, that's not how it work-" Nate was about to say, as a shadow loomed over him.

"Well, good evening" said the shadow, which turned out to be Damien.

"Uh, hi?" Nate looked up at him.

"I would like to talk to you," the rich boy said, "In private"

"Ugh, can't a person sit down in peace around here?" Nate said, rising from his seat in frustration. "See ya, Greg, try to fall asleep tonight"

Greg paid him no attention, as he was now making snow, or in his case, grass angels. Nate followed Damien into the woods.

* * *

[Confessional]

Greg: Phew! I never thought a girl so refined as Rosa would ever consider me a friend! And relationship is pretty much just a friendship, but with some making out, right?

[End Confessional]

* * *

After a few moments, Damien and Nate came to a small clearing and saw two other contestants - Molly and Katya. The former sat quietly on a tree stump, while latter stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot. The sun had almost set.

"Finally," the ballerina said, as the two boys approached them.

"What is this - some sort of cult meeting?" Nate asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Nate, we are about to offer you a chance of a lifetime" Damien proclaimed. "A chance you simply cannot miss!"

"Could you hurry up?" the lanky boy said impatiently.

"The point is," Katya interjected. "Your performance today impressed us, so we want you to join our alliance and bring you to the Final Four"

"It will be the four of us just like in the first challenge" Molly spoke up, "Wasn't that super fun?"

"Not really" he deadpanned.

"All we ask for now," Katya continued. "Is to consider it. Trust us, you might be the hero of your team now, but they'll turn you the moment you make a mistake. Why not take precautions by siding with us?"

Nate stood silent for a moment, before saying, "Sure, I'll consider it. Is this all?"

Damien nodded, which prompted the needy boy to turn around and walk back into the woods. After walking a few steps, he suddenly stumbled upon Piper, which startled him.

"Piper!" he said in surprise.

"Hey there," she greeted him with a smile. "What was that all about?"

"Uh," he stammered for a second, "Damien decided I was worthy of hearing his stories of great adventure - I barely escaped"

"Really? What a weird guy," Piper said, before asking, "So how are you doing after that fall?"

* * *

[Confessional]

Nate: Considering how long Jesse lasted, Damien doesn't seem to value his "friends" all that much, so there's no way I'm falling for this. Talking about it with Piper could make her suspicious, though, so it's best I keep it to myself.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Molly," Damien called over, making the girl look up at him. "You've had a long day, why don't you go and rest?"

"Oh, it's so nice of you to care about my sleep cycle, Damien" the nerdette said with a smile, "But it's fine - I'm still full of energy!"

"I said," Damien shouted, "Go and rest, Molly!"

"O-okay" she mouthed quickly and sprinted away.

"So, Katya, darling," Damien began, as he approached the ballerina, "Wouldn't you say we work very well together?"

Suddenly, Katya grabbed him by his collar, bringing the already tall guy up to her line of sight.

"Listen here," she spat with a glare, "Let's make one thing clear - I am only doing this to take care of Nate, and we are not in any kind of alliance together, got it?"

"Attention to all Pesky Preps," the intercom sounded off, "Proceed to the elimination room immediately. It's time to bid one of you farewell"

Katya then released Damien, dropping him onto the ground, and walked away.

* * *

[Confessional]

Katya: Nate's performance today showed that he is a formidable competitor with a great will for victory, so he should be dealt with before he starts posing a threat. That's the only reason I am in a temporary partnership with Damien - I trust him as far as I can throw him, which is only about 300 feet.

Damien: I have to say, a woman that plays this rough intrigues me.

[End Confessional]

* * *

"Do we even need to vote?" Kim asked from the bench in the elimination, after all the Preps gathered. "It's clear that if Hailey did her job, we'd get out of the school faster"

"Judging by how much you worked before you got in the tunnel," Martin said, "if Hailey did her job, you wouldn't, so it wouldn't make a difference"

"Still, she is the one who almost got us to victory," Katya countered, "Voting her off seems illogical"

"What she said!" Kim agreed enthusiastically, before saying, "And besides, voting against me now would be inhumane! No one has been more embarrassed on this show than me!"

"Speak for yourself" Vicki spat.

"Alright, save some drama for the voting booth" Chris interrupted the discussion, "Today, we'll send our first Prep on a voyage to the stars, so let's begin! Hailey, you're up first"

The athlete walked over to the booth.

* * *

[Voting booth]

Hailey: *stamps Kim's file and blows a raspberry*

Kim: *stamps Hailey's file* This is for hitting me in the face! *stamps again* This is for making me dig! *stamps again* And this just for being an annoying brat!

Katya: *stamps Hailey's file* Your claustrophobia is turning into a real problem.

Martin: *stamps Kim's file*

Vicki: Hailey did sort of cost us the challenge, but Kim's so annoying... *sighs*

[End Voting booth]

* * *

"Okay, all of you have cast your votes," Chris announced, as Chef brought the diplomas. "Time to announce the results! And the first diploma goes to..."

The seven teammates all tensed up in anticipation.

"Luke!" the host said, as the ginger caught the diploma with a smile.

"Damien, Katya, Martin!" Chris listed the students, as Chef threw them the diplomas.

"The next student safe from elimination is..."

The three remaining girls nervously looked at each other.

"Captain McWetness!" he called mockingly, as Chef threw Vicki her diploma.

"Oh, shut up" she glared at the host.

"And that leaves two students, but only one diploma for Chef to practice long-range combat with" Chris announced, "Hailey, Kim, no matter who goes home today, one of you will lose a loving friend"

The girls glared at each other with even more intensity.

"And the last remaining Prep is..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hailey!" he exclaimed, as Chef threw the girl her reward.

"What the-?" Kim protested, rising from her seat.

"Finally!" Hailey shouted with a smile.

"Kim," Chris looked at the teen, "It pains me to say this..."

"Oh, cut the crap!" Kim interrupted him, as she approached the boot. "Take me away from these freaks already"

"...But today is a non-elimination episode!" Chris finished in a raised tone. "Kim is not going anywhere!"

"No way" Hailey frowned, while Vicki just rolled her eyes. The rest of the team was just surprised at the sudden revelation.

"Wise decision, Chris" Kim commended him, drastically changing her attitude and putting her hands on her hips.

"I know, right" the host answered, before the camera zoomed in on his face. "And that's it for today! We promise you we will kick someone outta here with that boot next time on Total! Drama! School Liiiife!"

* * *

 _Hey, guys! Sorry for the hiatus, but a lot of stuff came up. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I'd really appreciate your feedback and feel free to share any predictions as to what will happen in the next chapter. Here are the individual votes:_

 _Kim - 4 votes (Hailey, Luke, Martin, Vicki)_

 _Hailey - 3 votes (Damien, Katya, Kim)_

 _See ya!_


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